A Power Divided
by RJF
Summary: Complete. Previously The Lone Charmed One CharmedMutantX Crossover Phoebe goes on a journey, after seeing a future that promised happiness, but not without fighting demons along the way! Piper and Paige have their problems when a new evil rises.
1. A Teary Goodbye

Okay, this is my first fan fiction, so please be kind if you review and just so there aren't any questions, I'll tell you the extra powers that I've given the sisters

Piper: Imperviousness, Intangibility, and Invisibility

Phoebe: Telepathy, Psionic Blast (Those who watch Mutant X will know what I mean)

Paige: Healing, Telekinesis and Astral Projection

This is a Charmed/Mutant X crossover, mostly centred on Phoebe, so I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed or Mutant X (Although I wish I did!)

**The Lone Charmed One**

'Paige! Are you in?' 29-year-old Phoebe Haliwell shouted as she walked into the house that she shared with her sisters.

'In here!' her younger sisters voice echoed from the kitchen.

'Great! Come and help me with the groceries that are in the car!'

She walked into into the kitchen, only to find it completely empty. Phoebe walked around the counter top, as always, finding it immaculate, her older sister Piper always kept the kitchen pristine, she could never make a meal unless her 'work space' was spotless. Unfortunately, signs of obsessive cleaning were all that Phoebe found, there was no sign of her baby sister.

Suddenly, she figured out what was going on and smiled as she grabbed a cold cup of coffee that was sitting on the table, she was going to beat her sister at her own game! Phoebe entered the dining room again and shouted again for her sister,' Paige! Where are you?' she said with a smirk playing on her lips.

This time, her voice came from upstairs 'In the attic!' Paige shouted. But instead of heading upstairs, Phoebe made a beeline for the living room and that was were she found her _real_ sister, lying unconscious on the couch. Phoebe propped the young woman up on the seat, and, while trying to hold back he laughter, opened Paige's mouth and poured the disgusting, ice-cold coffee down her throat!

Paige's eyes flashed open as she began to regain consciousness and splutter out what was left of the rancid liquid out of her mouth.

'Geez! I was only messing around!' the startled sibling said in protest.

'Sorry sweetie, but I don't time to play a game of astral hide and se-Piper!!' Phoebe yelled with her eyes narrowed as she turned around.

Slowly, her big sister appeared out of nowhere wearing a pout on her face,

'What good is invisibility if you see me?' she said in a disappointed tone as she joined her sisters in the living room and took the couch across the room

'I didn't see you; I sensed your thoughts, guys, what's going on? You two aren't exactly the people I thought would be ones for magical games,' questioned Phoebe.

'I guess it's just our way of saying we don't you to leave,' Piper replied with an apologetic smile on her face

'Yeah,' Paige said as she bounded across the sofa and hugged the middle Haliwell sister 'We're just trying to show you what will happen if you go,'

'Look, I'm gonna miss you guys more guys more than anything, not to mention Leo and the boys, but I need to do this, ever since I got that premonition I've been drawn to go an a journey to see if what I saw was true,'

A couple of months ago, Phoebe's powers had begun to spiral out of control, she had stayed in the basement for a week because she was feeling the emotions and hearing the thoughts of everyone in the city. As a last resort, Piper and Paige had tried to bind her powers to try and save their sister put just before they threw the binding potion, Phoebe had screamed and her eyes and went white. When the seizure ended, her powers were back to normal, and Phoebe had claimed to have had a premonition. She said that she had only small flashes of different parts of the future, but the picture that had lasted the longest was her lying in a hospital bed with a baby in her arms, apart from that she had felt friendship, adventure but most all, love.

Ever since then Phoebe had been planning to leave for a while and when she was asked about where she was going, all she said was 'wherever destiny takes me,'

'But what about your job?' Piper asked, as a last attempt to her change her mind

'I talked to Elise today and she said that I can e-mail all my assignments to her, she was a little hesitant when she thought about doing photo's and things but I convinced her to try and hold them off until I get back. And besides, I have a sister who has a very 'charming' way of transporting people in the blink of an eye if there's an emergency,' Phoebe replied while eying Paige.

'Well Piper, it's official, she has an answer for everything!' announced Paige, her voice telling that she had given up.

'Yes I do, now if you'll excuse me, I need to get groceries out of the car,' she said as she left the room.

'Phoebe wait!' Paige called before her big sister left the room 'let me save you the trouble, grocery bags!' she called for as the shopping appeared on the coffee table in a dazzle of orbs.

'Paige I think that falls under the personal gain category,' Piper said with one eyebrow raised.

'Probably, but screw it! It's Phoebe's last night at home for a while so lets save from all the chores!

The three siblings celebrated around the table, sharing childhood memories, laughing at stories of spells gone awry not mention munching away at the chips and chocolate that had been found at the bottom of one of the shopping.

Eventually, the party was over after Paige had to be at work in the morning, she had relinquished control of Magic School to Leo after she decided to return to a paying job and as soon as the baby monitor went off, Piper was on her feet checking on Chris, after that Phoebe decided to turn in for the night.

_Am I doing the right thing?_ Phoebe questioned herself as she lay in bed, unable to get to sleep. _Yes, my sisters don't need me as much as they used to and I need to this, after years of saving innocents, I need to do something for me _and as soon as she came to this conclusion, she drifted off into a dreamless slumber

The next morning, Phoebe was doing the rest of her packing in her room while Leo was putting everything else in her car, her sisters came into the room just as she was struggling to close a small bag full of her cosmetics. It was here Piper asked the question she had been asking ever since Phoebe had decided to go

'Do you have any idea of where you're going yet?' she asked worryingly with Paige behind her wearing a concerned look on her face.

'I told you, whatever way the wind blows,' her little sister retorted

'Yeah, well, it's going to have to one hell of a gust to move all the stuff your taking!' joked Paige, who was trying to make light of the situation.

Piper, who decided to join in, said 'Remember Paige, she's going on a spiritual quest, I mean, were would she be without the sacred… hair straightners!' as she picked up them up from Phoebe's overstuffed cosmetics bag.

'Oooooooooo! You guys are so funny!' she said with a glare and a smirk

'Okay, that's everything in the car, I'm surprised how stuff that Mini could fit into it!' said Leo who had appeared at the doorway.

'Alright then! I guess it's time for the teary goodbye!' she said with tears welling up in her eyes. First she hugged Paige who was reluctant to let her go.

'Be safe,' whispered Paige in her ear

'I will,' Phoebe whispered back

Piper was already whimpering as Phoebe wrapped her arms around her

'I'm gonna miss you so much Phoebe,' she managed to say in between sobs

'Me too,' said Phoebe who's voice was barely audible

She moved on to Leo who managed to stay dry eyed

' I hope you find what you're looking for,' Leo said to her, at this point all she could do was nod.

And, as they waved her off on the porch Phoebe began to drive out of the street were she had spent all her life, she was leaving everything behind, her family, her friends, her job, and all to begin her journey as the lone Charmed One…

Okay! What did you think? I know it's a slow start but I promise it gets better!

Please review and no flames, only constructive criticism, as this is my first fan fic!


	2. Visions In The Desert

Hey! I hope you all liked the first chapter! As I said, it will be a bit of a slow start, but I promise things will get better after Phoebe runs into a certain Mutant X member! Just to help people who haven't seen Mutant X, a psionic blast is like an attack on someone's mind, the way I've made work for Phoebe is she concentrates her power into a globe of light in front of her forehead, then fires the globe high speeds onto the targets head, resulting in whatever she set out to do eg. Knock him out, force his mind to tell the truth and so on, to an extent, it can be sort of like mind control, she's using it in this chapter so hopefully that will help! And for those who have seen Mutant X, Phoebe's blast is just like Emma's.

Visions in the Desert

_Great, more flat scenery and scorching hot weather_ thought a very exhausted Phoebe as she set off from the fifth gas station she had run into while being on this road, that looked as if it never ended. But since her instincts had never let her down before, Phoebe decided to keep following the path that she was drawn to. 

It had been 6 days since she had left her sisters back home and begin this journey, which had been pretty uneventful so far, she had left civilization a while ago and last night, had managed to find a cheap biker stop, it had seemed pretty quiet, but then a large gang had pulled in.

Phoebe had been at the bar enjoying a bottle of sparkling mineral water, when one of them came up to her.

'Hey toots, how about you'n me have some fun,'

'How about you back off before I smash this bottle over your head,' Phoebe replied, as she turned round to look the biker in the eye. He was the typical stereotype that Phoebe had seen in the movies, he was tall, wore sunglasses, was clearly unshaven and had his long, black greasy hair tied back in a ponytail.

'Awwww, c'mon sweet cheeks, these parts can be pretty rough I'm sure you'd appreciate having a strong man around to protect you,' he said as he brushed the back of his hand against her cheek.

By this time Phoebe had had enough, she grabbed his extended arm, spun him around and kicked him in the back, which sent him into a nearby table. After this, the rest of the bikers began brandishing small pocketknives as they surrounded Phoebe. She took out the first guy that ran at her by levitating and delivering a powerful two-foot kick to his face, the second she unarmed by knocking the knife out of his hand with a strong roundhouse kick, then she proceeded to punch him in the stomach so that he bent down, which gave her the perfect opportunity to grab his head and bring it down on her knee. She took out two others by channelling the pain of the others on to them, and as the final guy charged at her she fired a psionic blast which sent him flying into a wall and Phoebe was very confident in the fact that he probably wouldn't wake up for a couple of days after the blast she had sent him.

After the goons were taken care of and the bar was a wreck, Phoebe went over to guy who had started this and answered his question

'No thanks, I think I can look after myself,' as she delivered a solid punch to the face to knock him out. Needless to say, Phoebe had decided to move on quickly after the bar brawl and if the bikers did catch up with her, she raised a magical shield around her car to protect herself.

The radio reception had died out 3 hours ago and it was beginning to get dark, so the only thing Phoebe had to keep her entertained was her own thoughts, she had been keeping a steady 60 ever since the biker incident and was hoping to put some distance between her and them. She had opened the window to keep herself awake with and the cold night air hitting her tired face as she drove on. Phoebe sighed, she had been going in this direction for hours and as she combined the distance she'd travelled with the speed she had been going, she realised that she would run out of gas soon. The car slowly began to glide to a halt, Phoebe, surprised, checked the gauge on the dashboard, it had went dead, everything had went dead.

Reluctantly, she put on her one of her zip-up sweaters and stepped out of the car, she opened up the hood and was extremely surprised.

The space where the engine was supposed to be, was empty.

Phoebe's Charmed One paranoia kicked as she spun around on the spot, checking the immediate space for demonic activity. Satisfied, she turned back round to face her current problem _I'm sure just one spell won't hurt, if I word it right_, she thought, but knowing her present run of luck, the spell would backfire in way Phoebe couldn't even imagine. But she decided to take a chance and began rhyming

'Restore now, what was lost,

Without the selfless Wiccan cost,'

Phoebe opened her eyes; only find the same empty space that was there before. She ran a hand through her hair in frustration and turned around. The scorching red mountains in the distance had become black silhouettes against the night sky, which was filled with stars that danced on a dark canvas as they help slightly illuminate her surroundings. Then Phoebe noticed something, at was another silhouette, quite small and it was moving, moving towards her!

She tried to see what it was by squinting her eyes but all she saw was darkness. Finally the thing came into view, it was a dog, no, a coyote! It had dark red fur and was sitting looking at Phoebe from the edge of the road. Phoebe 's first instinct was to get back in her car and raise the shield again, but she stopped, as soon as she looked into the coyote's eyes she was mesmerised and began to follow it as it began to walk into the darkness.

Phoebe didn't care about how long she has been walking, nor that she had left her car unlocked, all that mattered was following this mysterious creature to wherever it was leading her. She came back out of her trance and, as if out of nowhere, a cave appeared with a dim light at the entrance but it seemed to get stronger the further she went into the cave. Once she got the back of the cave there was some sort of cauldron suspended from the roof, hanging over a fire. It was like some sort of camp, there were thickly woven sheets on the ground and a large bag with, what Phoebe guessed, supplies in it. She turned her eyes back to the coyote, which slowly began to change into a human. The man seemed to be very old, yet his eyes were as bright as the fire, he was very heavily clothed and had dark skin and his in dreadlocks.

Even after this use of magic, Phoebe was not afraid, she thought that if he wanted to kill her, he could have done it back at the car instead of bringing her to her doom.

'Who are you?' she asked, full of curiosity.

The mans voice was low but full of wisdom 'Who I am is of no importance, I am here to help you, that is all you need to know,'

'But why? I'm doing just fine,'

'Beings of light and dark alike have sensed the separation, that the Power Of Three is divided,'

'Divided? Oh no! That means my sisters are in-,'

'Danger?' the man cut her off 'No, your sisters are a formidable force even without you, the one who is in danger is you, if you are serious about continuing this journey of yours, you can't be conflicted,'

'But I'm not conflic-,' Phoebe was cut off again.

'Hush. Just watch,' the man said, as he passed his hand over the cauldron 'Look,' he said and beckoned Phoebe to come closer, to peer into the bowl. There was water in the cauldron, it was misty yet clear at the same time, but slowly, images began to appear on the waters surface.

She saw her goodbye with her sisters, she saw the bar brawl, she even saw what she had saw in the premonition that had started this journey, but this just left Phoebe with more questions.

'What does all that have to do with anything?'

'Everything. Ever since a couple of days ago, you may not know it, but you have wondered if you have did the right thing, I decided to help you.'

'Oh so you're responsible for the 'subtle' disappearance of the insides of my car,' Phoebe said sarcastically.

'Yes but I had to, if you are distracted, you won't survive the dangers that come,'

Phoebe just sat silently after that; she had felt at her wits end for a couple of days, she just didn't want to admit it.

'What if you could see the premonition again? Would that clear your doubt?' the man questioned

Phoebe suddenly looked up 'Actually, I think it would,'

The man took her hands and begun chanting, after that, he poured some of the water from the cauldron over Phoebe's hands, which surprisingly, didn't burn, he then took her hands again and the vision came.

It was just like the one Phoebe had saw except it was like it was in slow motion, she saw herself fighting alongside a woman a bit like herself, only she had lasers coming from her hands, she saw herself laughing with a guy with blonde hair as they sat next to a computer, she saw the back of a man with dark hair, that she was kissing, and finally, she saw the only picture that had made sense before, her sitting in a hospital bed, wearing a smile and holding a beautiful baby in her arms.

She came out of the premonition gasping for air and letting go of the mans hands, after she calmed down, he asked her

'Are you ready to continue your journey now?'

Phoebe, now full of confidence stood up and answered 'Yes! But just one more question… how the heck do I get out of here?'

The man smiled, 'Just walk out of the cave and you'll be where you're supposed to be,'

'Okay,' she turned to walk out, but just before she did 'Thank you,'

The man merely smiled as she walked towards the exit.

All Phoebe could remember after walking out the cave was a bright light and all of a sudden, she was sitting in her car, with the sun blazing through the windows.

Phoebe tried to start her car… it worked! She was so grateful that the man had fixed her car that it took her a while to notice her surroundings.

Her car seemed to be on the same road as before, but this time it was in the parking lot of an old, run-down diner.

Stepping out of the car and looking at the building she remembered the man's words

_Just walk out of the cave and you'll be where you're supposed to be_…Well, if this was where destiny wanted her, so be it, so as she put on her stylish sunglasses and entered 'Desert Delicacies' she decided to accept it… For now.

So? What did you think? The slow start is almost over, especially since, in the next chapter she'll be meeting a certain someone ;)

Please, please, please review! I really want your input! Storyline suggestions, comments, I was thinking about splitting the story into two parts, you know, like a couple of chapters on Phoebe's adventures and a couple on Piper and Paige, what do you think?. Chapter 3 'The Destined Encounter' will be up soon!


	3. The Destined Encounter

Yes!!!!!!!!!! The slow start is finally over! I've been thinking a lot about this chapter, so I hope got it right! Phoebe's journey is going to soon take shape…

**The Destined Encounter**

Apart from being slightly run down, this seemed like any ordinary diner, people were huddling over tables in deep conversation, there seemed to be some loners crouching over the counter, staring at their coffee mugs, and of course, the clattering of plates and cutlery being moved around was coming from the concealed kitchen in the back.

Phoebe picked up a dog-eared menu from a nearby vacant table, and took a seat on a tattered red leather stool at the counter and scanned her surroundings, it seemed as if this place hadn't been done up since the seventies, there was a dusty jukebox in the corner, and the metal of the chair legs had rusted.

'What canna do ya for darlin?' a plump redheaded waitress asked her

Turning back around to face her, Phoebe skimmed the menu quickly, it suddenly struck her that she eaten since yesterday at breakfast, and combined with the energy her replayed premonition had taken from her, she threw her 'watch my weight' eating habits out the window as hunger took over.

'I'll have a double cheeseburger with _lots_ of fries and a chocolate milkshake please,' she answered desperately.

'Comin right up,' the woman answered as she disappeared behind the swing doors of the kitchen. Taking this as on opportunity, Phoebe looked around, looking for anything that might indicate why she had been sent here, nothing looked out of the ordinary, except from the fact that the floor looked like it hadn't been mopped in years. Now that she thought of it, a lot of things didn't add up, like how no one else was eating and how her car was one of two parked at the front, how had the other people got here?

'Excuse me, are you Phoebe Haliwell?'

Phoebe jumped at the sound of another woman's voice and clutched her chest.

'Oh sorry! I didn't mean to startle you,' said the woman.

Phoebe looked at the woman, she seemed to be around the same height as her, had long brown hair that went slightly past her shoulders and was wearing quite smart looking glasses.

Phoebe, coming back to her senses said ' Oh! It's ok, I scare easily, and yes, I'm Phoebe Haliwell,' and put out her hand.

'I'm Cassandra Hewitt and let me tell you, it's an honour! I read your column everyday at home!' she said as she shook Phoebe's hand vigorously.

'Wow! It's always nice to meet a fan, even around here. Can I ask you what you're doing in a place like this?'

'I'm going to visit my grandmother, she had a bad hip so I'm going to help her,' Cassandra said.

'One double cheeseburger, lots of fries and a chocolate milkshake,' the waitress's voice interrupted as she put Phoebe's food on the counter.

'Thanks,' Phoebe answered as dug in to her food.

'I hope that this isn't asking for too much, put my grandmother has a subscription to your paper and loves your column so can I have your autograph?'

'Of course have you got anything I can write on?' Phoebe asked has she pulled a pen from her pocket.

Cassandra looked around and finally decided on a napkin and handed it to her.

After Phoebe finished her meal, she continued her conversation with Cassandra. She decided it was nice to talk to a person from civilization, as she the only other human contact she had had was ordering food or paying for gas, she decided not to count the man as human as anyone who could turn into a coyote was definitely not human.

_Mind you, a person who can levitate and fry a persons mind shouldn't be classed as human either _she thought to herself with a chuckle

The rotund waitress came up to her, as if she was looking for money.

'Oh sorry, how is this gonna cost me?' she said as she looked down into her purse.

'Oh, not much,' the waitress said sweetly 'Just your life,'

Phoebe looked up to see the waitress wearing an evil smirk, and as she looked around, the rest of the people in the diner were beginning to stand up and chuckle.

'Is this some sort of joke?' Cassandra asked.

The waitress began to laugh 'Oh my dear, I can assure you, this is no joke,' she said as an energy ball materialised in her hand. The other people began to follow suit, this wasn't Desert Delicacies, this was Demon Delicacies!

Suddenly, there was a bright flash, which left Phoebe a little dazed, along with the demons. Someone grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the exit, and after they got out, she realised the person was Cassandra. To Phoebe's surprise, a laser came from Cassandra's hand as she welded the metal of the doors together.

'That won't hold them for long!' Cassandra shouted over the shouts of demons.

'Who are you!? What are you!?' Phoebe asked desperately

'We don't have time! You're a witch, help me out!' she said as she shot at escaping demons with her powers.

Phoebe rushed over to car and opened the door; she began fumbling with the glove compartment.

'Come on! Come on!' Phoebe said as she struggled to open it.

Finally, the compartment opened, revealing five crystals, Phoebe began to run round the building, placing the crystals in the shape of a pentagram.

Meanwhile, most of the demons had now escaped and were advancing to Cassandra. One of them threw an energy ball, but just before it could leave the demons hand, the crystal cage activated and created a force field around the diner.

Phoebe rejoined with her mysterious partner and began asking questions.

'Alright, who the hell are you!?'

'Again, there's no time! They're gonna break through that in a couple of seconds!'

She was right, the demons were throwing energy ball after energy ball at the side of the cage and it was beginning to waver.

Phoebe finally gave in, as the walls of the cage begin to crumble, she grabbed Cassandra's hand, hoping that she was a witch so she could draw on her power, Phoebe began to chant.

'Within these crystals, darkness romes,

Destroy all evil within this dome!'

The demons began to writhe and squirm and the fires that were now consuming them, but not before the crystal cage was destroyed and as a last act of evil, one of the demons fired an energy ball that hit an unprepared Phoebe square in the chest.

All she could remember was the screams of the demons being vanquished, and Cassandra looking over her just before she blacked out.

'You guys are lucky to have made it out of there alive!' a mans voice said.

'Yeah, tell me about it, those demons really wanted her dead,' Phoebe recognised and voice as Cassandra's

'But why? She just seems like your run-of-the-mill witch,' another man's voice rang out.

'Oh trust me, she isn't the typical witch, if she could vanquish that many demons with just her own power and my power,' Cassandra said.

'Maybe you were the more powerful one, you can never tell,' the first man said

'She was lucky you were there to help her Lexa,' said the second man.

'She was lucky? I'm the one who's lucky! When we were sent to detain her, I had no idea how tough this mission was gonna be. I'm _lucky_ to be alive Jesse!'

_Detain me? _Phoebe thought as she came to. She decided to not open her eyes just yet; she wanted to see what else they knew about her.

'Look, we'll talk about this later when she comes to, we'll tell her everything,' the man named Jesse said.

'Why don't we just stick with my cover story?' the woman that was now called Lexa instead of Cassandra said.

'Look around _Cassandra_,' the nameless man said mockingly 'Does this place really look like grandma's house? Besides, she can use her powers to find out the truth if she doesn't believe what we tell her, so we're better being straight with her,'

'Ugh, fine,' said Lexa, who seemed to have given up, judging by the sound of high heels walking away.

'Com me when she wakes up,' the man said to Jesse.

'Sure thing Brennan,' so the last person was called Brennan.

It seemed is if the conversation was over, so Phoebe waited a few minutes before deciding to open her eyes. She let out a small groan just to make her wake sound believable. The man who she supposed was Jesse walked over to her, from what she could see, he had short blonde hair. Was wearing jeans and a green vest that was wore underneath an open light blue shirt.

'Brennan, Lexa! She's awake! he called out to the others.

'Where am I?'…

Yay!!!! The crossover has finally happened! I hope that I have handled this chapter well as I spent a lot of time thinking about it.

Chapter 4 'And Then There Were Four' will be up shortly!!!!!


	4. And Then There Were Four

Okay! This chapter going to be mostly talking so that Phoebe can learn about Mutant X (along with non-viewers) so here we go!

PS: I've changed the history of Mutant X for this story just so you know

**And Then There Were Four**

'Uh… We'll explain everything in a minute; just know that you're safe here,' said Jesse reassuringly.

Phoebe gave him a distrusting look as she sat up from her lying position; she was supposed to trust people who, a couple of minutes ago had been talking of detaining her!

'Look, follow me and we'll explain,' Lexa beckoned.

'Okay 'Cassandra',' said Phoebe with a venomous tone.

Lexa just smirked and walked away with Jesse and Brennan, leaving her to catch up.

Phoebe looked around, this place was huge! From what she could see, she had been in some sort of high-tech laboratory where she had recovered from the energy ball wound. Suddenly reminded, Phoebe looked down at her stomach, her wound… gone? That didn't make any sense! She remembered the demon throwing the energy ball, when a sharp pain in her stomach, then nothing else. How was she unscathed, she partially lifted her top to look for any sign of a scar or anything that would show that she had been hurt, all she saw was her smooth stomach.

She looked around the rest of the place; it seemed to be very modern. There were two computers at two of the desks and on an upper level, there seemed to be some sort of large arcing object which Phoebe couldn't even guess what was for.

As she followed the others, they came upon a sort of recreation area, filled with inviting sofas, a chessboard and a large TV.

The three people, Jesse, Lexa and Brennan, had sat in a circular pattern, leaving Phoebe to take the remaining space, which made her feel slightly uncomfortable because the rest were all watching her.

'So, are you going to tell me what's going on?' she said, while trying to keep eye contact with all of them.

'We are part of-,' Lexa began

'Uh… Why don't we ease her into things a little bit,' the man she assumed was Brennan suggested. Phoebe looked at him, he had short black hair and even sitting down he seemed to be taller than the rest of them, he was wearing jeans and a tight black t-shirt.

'Cassandra's' appearance had changed as well, she wearing a short black skirt and a red top, which was nothing like the slightly geeky 'Ask Phoebe' fan she had met in the diner.

'Let's start off with our names and go from there, I'm Brennan Mulwray,' he introduced himself.

'I'm Jesse Kilmartin,' the blonde haired guy said.

Phoebe nodded then eyed the woman suspiciously, who just sighed as introduced herself

'I'm Lexa Pierce,' giving Phoebe a little bit of a forced smile.

'Well, from what I heard back there you all seem to know who I am so why don't you just explain what the hell is going on?' Phoebe demanded, crossing her arms.

Lexa took a breath, then looked at Brennan 'Can I explain now?' she said coldly.

'By all means,' he answered, unphased by her icy tone

'We are witches, although not the type of witch that you are, as we weren't born into it,' she began 'You see, years ago there was a genetic engineering facility called Genomex, it was a company that specialised in manipulating human DNA. After a while they discovered the existence of magic, and that was how it all began,'

Jesse continued from where Lexa had stopped 'they began sending agents into hospitals, doctor's surgeries, even blood donor facilities, they would test the blood they managed to acquire and if it was witch blood, they would begin experiments. Their test subjects would be desperate people who were seeking medical attention for terminal illnesses, they would merge witch DNA with the human's and monitor what happened.

Lexa then finished 'these witches were known as 'The Children of Genomex' and grew up in a world where they were considered freaks, there are supposedly over 1000 of these 'test-tube' witches

Phoebe took all this in, how could something like this have been kept from the magical world for so long? Witches without a clue what they are, are considered easy pickings for demons and warlocks, and something like this would also cause the Elders great concern. It was then Phoebe decided to ask questions.

'You said you're different, is there anything else besides your origin that makes you different?'

'Did you ever wonder why I didn't start chanting with you when you vanquished those demons at the diner?' Lexa asked

'No, I was too busy fighting evil and getting knocked out,' Phoebe retorted.

'Well, it was because I can't, the only way I can contribute to spells if a real witch taps into my power, in other words, when I rhyme, nothing happens.'

That explained why the magical community had been kept in the dark about this for so long, the only way to track a witch is by sensing their spell casting power, it is after all, what connects all witches, you could even call it their trademark.

'So you have the individual powers that witches have, but you can't cast spells?' Phoebe said, beginning to understand.

'Yeah, that's one of the main reasons Brennan's here,' Jesse said, nodding in Brennan's direction.

Brennan began to explain 'I was born a witch, so I'm was able to help cloak this place in a web of magic. I tapped into their power and along with my own, I was able to shield this place from detection,'

Phoebe nodded and asked another question 'So where are we and what so you guys so here,'

Jesse answered this question 'We call this place Sanctuary, it's our base and also our home, it's situated in the side of a mountain so that's why there are no windows. And to answer what we do, we monitor any strange goings on in the world, you know, like news reports, unexplained deaths because since so many of our kind grew up not knowing what they were, it leads them to do stupid things, so basically, we clean up magical messes and help others like us. Oh! And we call ourselves Mutant X,'

'You call yourselves mutants!? You're far from it!'

'Not really, see we're not born witches and our DNA has been modified so I think it's a fitting title, besides 'Witch X' doesn't really have the same ring to it,' Lexa said and winked.

'Okay, just one more question: how did you find me?' Phoebe enquired

Brennan answered this 'Like we said before, we monitor strange goings on, and your little bar brawl sparked our interest,' he saw the worried look on Phoebe's face and laughed 'don't worry! We wiped the security tapes before the police got there so we're the only ones that saw and if I may say so myself, you kicked ass,'

Phoebe blushed; Jesse and Lexa just rolled their eyes. They knew Brennan too well and decided to shoot him down before he went too far.

'Hey Bren! The girl's just awake! She might actually fall for your pick up lines in the state that she's in,' Lexa said

Jesse decided to quickly change the subject to save Brennan the ridicule.

'He is right, you're a good fighter, which is why we came to get you,' he said 'We were hoping that you might join us,'

Phoebe's eyes widened, Jesse quickly tried so soften the question 'there's no pressure! And it wouldn't need to be a permanent thing! It's just that, you seem to be a powerful witch and it would really help us, not to mention Lexa probably needs some female company,' he said the last part in a whisper.

'Hey! I heard that! I'll get you for that later,' Lexa said with her eyes narrowed and a tone of mock warning in her voice.

Phoebe smiled, they seemed quite friendly and it seemed like she could really fit in here, she would need to think about it, or better yet, see what they thought of it, she hoped that they wouldn't be able to sense an intruder in their mind and hearts. She decided to read Brennan last, as there was more chance of him sensing her than the others, she started on Lexa and began to use her telepathy and empathy powers.

_God I hope she says yes, I've been sorta lonely ever since Shal left_ Lexa was thinking, she would need to find out who this 'Shal' was eventually but she dismissed it and moved onto her emotions, which were a lot more harder to access. It seemed as if she had some sort of emotional barrier around her heart, Phoebe was eventually able to break it she was hit with a powerful wave of pain and hope. She kept her composure so they wouldn't get suspicious and decided to move on to Jesse.

She was almost surprised at how easily she slipped into his thoughts and emotions, he seemed to be a person who spoke his thoughts and wore his heart on his sleeve. Phoebe almost laughed, he wasn't even thinking about the current situation! He was thinking about upgrading computer systems and repairing something called the Helix but when she breeched his emotions, it seemed he was very conflicted, Phoebe, deciding not to get lost in this tangle of emotions, left.

Now she was onto Brennan, she decided to only see what he thought instead of what he felt, as an intruder to the mind is harder to detect than an intruder to the heart. She was cautious to enter slowly, as his thoughts began to echo in her mind.

_She's really powerful, I'm gonna need to ask her about her heritage later, maybe she's a… _He stopped in mid-thought and turned to look at her, instead of continuing his conversation with his comrades. Phoebe quickly left, hoping he hadn't noticed his mind's little visitor.

Bringing their attention back to her 'Can I have some time to think about it?' she asked.

'Sure, we'll be around if you want to talk to us about anything,' Brennan answered and they left her in the seating area alone.

After a while with her own thoughts, Phoebe decided to seek out the members of Mutant X to see what they had to tell her, so she went to seek them out.

Jesse seemed to be the closest one; he was sitting at one of the many computers in Sanctuary and was typing furiously.

'What are you doing?' Phoebe questioned as she crossed the floor to where he was.

' Oh! Hi! I'm just upgrading Sanctuary's defence systems, we have a lot of enemies so we need to be at the peek of technology to survive, so don't being one of us is an easy gig,'

'You defeat the evils of the world, I defeat the evils of the underworld, I think I know what I would be getting myself into if I stayed,' she said before she jumped up to sit on the desk and start swinging her legs.

He laughed, and then asked her 'I'm just going to repair the Helix, want to come with?'

'What's the Helix?' Phoebe asked as she jumped off the desk.

'You'll see, come on,' Jesse beckoned and she followed him up a small spiral staircase which lead to the second floor of Sanctuary, from here you could see the rest of the area. The place really was huge, she saw the computers Jesse had been sitting at, she saw Lexa fighting air inside the arced object and she saw a series of doors that she guessed lead to the others rooms.

She followed Jesse through a door and as she entered the next room, she gasped. It seemed to be a hanger of sorts and sitting in the middle was a large plane.

'_That_ is the Helix,' Jesse said proudly as he ran down the stairs to reach it. They entered the Helix and Phoebe was even more impressed, it was one of the most hi-tech pieces of equipment she had ever seen! Computer touch panels were everywhere, there was six seats, there also seemed to be very complicated piloting system that Jesse had come to fix.

Jesse ripped off one of the panels on the controls and handed Phoebe a small flashlight.

'Point it there,' he said as he pointed at a part he wanted Phoebe to light.

Phoebe decided to take this opportunity to ask more questions.

'So, do you need to repair this thing a lot?' she asked

'Not a lot, but frequently, mostly I just do a systems check to make sure everything is in order why do you ask?'

'Oh, no reason,' she lied; she had wanted to see if they are constantly being attacked and being put in jeopardy. She decided that she wasn't going to get anything else out of him while his concentration was split and she asked to leave.

'Listen, I need to talk to the others, can you do this by yourself?' she asked innocently.

'Oh, sure! Okay!' he answered and took the flashlight from her.

She found Lexa at the place she had seen her at earlier, but she looked deep in concentration, so Phoebe thought talking to her would be a lost cause. Instead she sought out Brennan.

She found him in what she supposed was his room that was pretty well decorated, although Phoebe saw that it had a subtle theme of lightning.

'Knock, knock,' she said, standing in the doorway.

He heard her over the quiet music he was listening to in his earphones and answered.

'Hey,'

'Look, you probably already noticed, but earlier on, I read all of you,' Phoebe confessed.

'I knew it!' he said in triumph 'You were giving me a weird stare and I felt something in my mind,'

'Yeah well, I sorta got the same vibe from everyone, and the vibe was that you're all reeling from some sort of loss, am I right?'

Brennan paused for a minute, then said 'you can't expect to know everything about us by just being a psychic intruder, we our secrets, you have yours,' in a defensive tone.

You didn't need to be empathic to know that Phoebe had touched a nerve, so she decided to leave, but before she could, Brennan spoke.

'Phoebe, you seem to be a really powerful witch, so I was wondering, was is your family line?'

She hesitated, if he was a born witch, he was probably raised on the story of the arrival of The Charmed Ones, and she didn't want her magical identity to change things so she just said

'You have your secrets, I have mine,' and she left.

10 minutes after her conversation with Brennan, she made her decision, and gathered everyone round.

'I've been thinking a lot about this, I know what you guys do, I know who you are, and for some reason, I still trust you,' her comment raised some smirks among her audience 'So I've decided that I'm going to stay,' she waited for their reactions, there wasn't any cheering, just smiles as they went back to their business

'Okay guys, I know you're excited about my staying and all, but just one question, where the hell is my car!?'

So? Tell me your opinions! Has she made the right choice? Please review!

Chapter 5 'First Mission' will be up soon!


	5. The First Mission

Okay! The last chapter was kind of boring but I think it was necessary but hopefully this will be a lot better!

Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed or Mutant X and am making no profit from this.

First Mission 

Phoebe awoke in her bedroom in Sanctuary, she and Lexa had went out a couple of days ago to get things to decorate it with and say that it was hers. She hadn't needed much, as quite a lot of her home comforts were in her car, which she had located in Sanctuary's massive garage filled the best cars, another part of the place which left her in awe.

As the winter was setting in, they had bought thick sheets, which Phoebe was enjoying at this moment, but reluctantly, she knew that she had to get up; she was still learning the ropes of this place and wouldn't be allowed to go on any missions until she knew the basics of everything.

Jesse and herself had spent many a late night in front of the computers, this process was tedious for both of them, Phoebe had to learn stuff like hacking into low-security computer files and how to trace an unknown call, and that was just for the beginning! All of this had to be done quickly, and precisely, just one mistake could cause Sanctuary to go into a lock-down and they would be stuck in here until Jesse was able to restart the systems.

Her combat lessons had been quite fun, but very tiring. Lexa was a good opponent, combine her fighting skills with her powers, and she was a lethal weapon, but Phoebe was also a force to be reckoned with, so they ended up tiring each other out before a winner was decided. She had found out what the arced object was, it was a holographic simulator, that was very useful if you were planning on breaking into a building, all you had to do was upload the floor plan and you could practice your mission. It could also be used to fight holograms, which she had seen Lexa do on her first day here, it was hard to do, as if you were hit once, the program would shut down and the practice would be considered a failure.

Brennan had been teaching her how to pilot the Helix, which was very dangerous considering the fact that Phoebe could hardly drive a 4x4 car! Let alone a high-speed jet! Brennan had had to take control many times, to avoid crashing, but every time it happened, he just laughed it off had Phoebe was sitting frozen, her face chalk white, her clutching to the arm rests so hard that her knuckles were pale and indents of her nails were left on the chair.

Phoebe pulled back her covers, but immediately pulled them back over her, it was freezing! She decided to quickly run to her adjoining bathroom, and warm up with a shower.

'Jess! What the hell is going on with the heating!?' a very annoyed Lexa shouted as she came out of her room.

'There's bug in the system I'm just getting rid of it now so stop complai- oh my god!'

Jesse turned round to face Lexa, and as soon as he saw her, he fought to keep his laughter in.

She waddled over to him, underneath layer upon layer of thick woollen sweaters and what seemed to be a pair of snow pants, add those to the fluffy slippers she was wearing and she was a hilarious sight!

'Hmmm, looks like our resident ice queen is cold,' said Brennan as he walked over to the others, chuckling at the sight of his wrapped up teammate.

'I think that's a little unfair Brennan,' said Phoebe, who was now fully clothed after her shower, and was joining the conversation 'I happen to know for a fact that our girl Lexa isn't as heartless as she leads us to believe,' she said with a tap to Lexa's head and heart.

Lexa rolled her eyes and ignored Phoebe's comment 'Whatever, Phoebe do you have any thick clothes that you're _obviously_ not using right now?' she said as she looked Phoebe up and down.

She was right, Phoebe wasn't exactly dressed for winter, she was wearing her old jeans that had rips all over them, and a thin white top, with long sleeves that went past her hands.

'I guess I just don't feel the cold like you do,' she retorted with a smirk 'and yeah, I think I have an old knitted sweater that my great aunt knitted for me, but it's itchy as hell,'

Lexa then extended her arms to the side and twirled 'Do you really think I'll feel some scratchy wool when it's on top of everything else,'

'Good point,' she answered as Lexa walked off to raid her closet 'but all the sweaters in the world will keep your heart warm! We both know there's only one person who can do that,' she said with a wink.

Lexa walked off mumbling something like 'I hate empaths,'

'I heard that!' the truth was that Phoebe didn't even know who she was talking about, she hadn't read Lexa since her coming here and decided to not jeopardise her already shaky friendship with the woman by doing it again.

Lexa walked into Phoebe's room to find the sweater that she was looking for. After she found it, Lexa turned to leave the room when she noticed something on the bed. She picked it up and looked at the cover, it had a circle, and three points that met in the middle of the circle.

Perfect. She thought, it looked like Phoebe's dairy, and it also looked like the perfect way to playfully get back at her for her remark earlier. Lexa shoved it up one of the many sweaters she was wearing and she ran out of the room with a childish smile on her face.

Later that day when Brennan had taken Phoebe out for Helix driving lessons, Lexa decided to take a look at her dairy. She began a couple of weeks before Phoebe had joined Mutant X

_October 19th 2004_

_Today was too much of a close call, the Minotaur demon had come back just when Piper and Paige had come back from their trip to the park with Wyatt and Chris. It was a horrible day brought up old memories of Prue's death, Piper had told Paige to orb the kids to safety as soon as the demon materialised and began to fight, her exploding power did little damage and the result brought up horrible flashbacks. Paige ran into my room, alerting me to the demonic problem, I rushed upstairs to get the vanquishing spell so we could use The Power Of Three to vanquish it. When I came running down the stairs, it was as if it was happening again, the demon was standing over my dying sisters, who he had sent crashing through the wall that separated the sun room and living room. I wasn't about to let everyone down again, I couldn't! So I said the spell with all my might to at least fend off the demon._

_Leo was able to heal them after I chased after the demon, Paige asked me why I looked so shaken, she said that we almost die all the time. Piper had given me a knowing glance as she sat up from her near death spot._

But the thing that really gets me is that what Paige said is true, we risk our lives everyday, not knowing if we'll going to be home for dinner, or if we're going to be able to be on time for a date, and the main reason we don't know is because of impending death. Anyway, I think I'll just channel my frustration into my column for now, but when I leave, I'm going to make my premonition a reality, and make the friendship, adventure and love happen and hopefully escape my destiny as a Charmed One… Even just for a little while.

Lexa quickly shut the book, and instantly regretted what she had done. Trust her to open at the page where it seemed a lot of Phoebe's pain lied, she decided not to ever use this information against her, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to do some digging into this 'Charmed' thing.

2 days later

Phoebe was raring to go! She had completed her basic training and was finally allowed to go with her new friends on a mission. She sat in her 'reserved' seat in the Helix, which was quite far away from the controls, which Phoebe was happy about, she had barely passed the 'test' that Brennan had set and was hoping she wouldn't be at the helm anytime soon.

'All right! Is everyone ready to go?' Brennan asked as he jogged into the Helix and took the controls.

Jesse was too busy setting up computers in the co-pilot seat, Lexa just nodded. Phoebe had noticed that, over the last couple of days, Lexa had been looking at her strangely and smiling sympathetically towards her now and again, which Phoebe found really out of character for her team mate, usually Lexa would have made some sort of joking comment about Phoebe's skills or something like that.

Going against what she had previously decided, she had to get to the bottom of this the only way she knew how, and that was to read her.

Lexa's emotional defences were a lot easier to get past now that she knew how, although it was quite hazy, Phoebe got a sense of doubt and sympathy. She stopped right there, why was she pitying her? Phoebe decided to put off the issues for now and concentrate on her first mission.

'So, what are we doing?' she asked Jesse, who was now sitting comfortably now that the Helix was in the air and half way to it's destination.

'We are going after a mutant,' Phoebe sighed at that comment, how could he consider the person a mutant? 'He first popped up on our radar yesterday when people were found outside in the street as ice sculptures,'

'So this guy has the power of cyrokenisis?'

'Exactly, I'm surprised you know the scientific term for it,'

'Hey just because I know more about magic than science, it doesn't mean that I don't know a thing to two,' she said smiling, she then continued 'So what do you do in a situation like this?'

'Usually these cases are either one of two kinds, the first is that the incident was an accident that happened out of fear, you know, since a lot of our kind don't know what they are, so they end up doing things without intending them, if that's the case then we just teach them control and put them back to their normal lives,'

'And what if it's the other case?' Phoebe asked not sure if she wanted to know the answer.

Jesse laughed slightly 'Don't worry, it's not as gruesome as you think, if they're using their powers in malice, then we just bind their powers and hand them over to the cops,'

_Hmmmm… that isn't so bad_ Phoebe thought, she had expected that they might have to kill him.

They landed at their location, Phoebe was surprised that the Helix could not be spotted, but Brennan then explained to her that the Helix has a cloaking system, which allows it to be invisible from radar and sight.

The Helix had landed on the top of a building and as all of them left the jet, she picked up on something.

'What do you sense?' questioned Brennan, who knew the look she was wearing on her face.

'Life, two floors below us,' thanks to the power advancement she had received a couple of months ago; she was able to pinpoint the exact location of their target.

They headed down the stairwell to find the witch, and then Phoebe was hit with another psychic message.

'Whoa! You guys stop!' she said, they turned around to see Phoebe holding on to the metal railing for support. She then lost her balance as another psychic wave hit her Brennan rushed up the gap between them and caught her before she fell.

'They… know… we're…here…' Phoebe managed to splutter out

'Who knows? How do they know?' Lexa asked.

'They're…attacking…my…mind,' she said as she writhed in Brennan's arms.

'Alright, that's it, I'm taking you back to the Helix,' Brennan announced and picked her up in his arms.

'No,' she said simply 'I'm fine now, and I know for a fact that a witch was behind what just happened so I need to kick her ass,'

'Her?' Jesse asked.

'You'd be amazed how much you can pick up on a person when they're trying to fry your brain,' Phoebe said with a smile.

Jesse and Lexa continued to run down the stairs to whatever was waiting for them as Brennan put Phoebe back down on the ground.

'Brennan we have to hurry, before the witch attacked I sensed a lot of people coming in from the entrance, they must really want that witch,' she finished and went to follow her comrades down the stairwell, where she knew that a fight would take place when she got there…

They stopped at the floor where Phoebe had sensed the mutant they were after, but unfortunately, they were not far in front of their competitors.

'Alright I'd say our best bet is to split up, Phoebe do you know where he is now?' Jesse asked

'No, we're too close, I can't differentiate between his presence and the ones that are coming up the stairs,'

'Okay. I'll go and find the guy, you guys hold off the goons, since all of you are better fighters than me,'

The three nodded, as Jesse disappeared into a maze of crates that littered the floor. They hear the footsteps of the many people coming up the stairs, and prepare themselves for battle. Suddenly the door was blasted open, and a swarm of armed men came through followed by two others, a man and a woman. The both of them were wearing simple black suits, the man had long blonde hair and a dirty looking goatee and the woman was dark skinned and had big black hair.

Phoebe knew that the woman was the one who had attacked her in the stairwell, and immediately shot her an icy glare.

'Well, well, well, if it isn't the infamous Mutant X, put your hands in the air and I may spare your lives,'

Phoebe was willing to fight her way out if she had to, and was extremely surprised when she saw Lexa and Brennan to her side, putting their arms up in surrender,

'Just go with it,' Lexa whispered to her 'I have a plan,'

Phoebe complied and put her hands up and immediately felt her right hand being taken by Lexa. Then what happened next really surprised her the entire firing squad and their leaders looked baffled, the male leader then said 'Where'd they go!?'

Phoebe was confused, she looked down at her hand and almost let go of Lexa in shock, her hand had disappeared, along with her entire body!

She then clicked and realised what was going on and laughed in her head, this was Lexa's doing, she then remembered the conversation she said with Brennan when she asked about their powers

_Okay, so you can throw electricity, and Jesse can alter his body density, what can Lexa do?_

_Let's just say she can do some pretty amazing things with light_

Lexa guided them around the gunmen and right behind their leaders, the woman then tried to attack Phoebe's mind again, but this time, she was prepared, she had set a mental defence.

'Sorry sweetie,' said Phoebe, as she reappeared 'You should really learn a new trick,' the woman had turned round by this point, just in time for Phoebe to hit her with the strongest psionic blast she could muster. This sent her opponent into a row of her minions, not to mention knocking her out, the fight then ensued. Brennan and Lexa seemed to be taking care of the gunmen without any trouble, but then Phoebe realised, where had the other guy went?..

Jesse was still navigating through the labyrinth of crates that were in the building, he heard shouts of anguish, crackles of electricity and he saw large bursts of light and smiled, his friends were taking care of business.

He then heard whimpering coming from the other side of one of the boxes, and guessed that he had found what he was looking for.

There was a little boy, no older than 10, cowering in a corner, obviously scared out his wits. The boy than saw Jesse and his face went white and he put up his hands. Jesse realised what he was about to do, so he phased out so the ice blast went straight through him, and froze a nearby crate.

'The kid's coming with me,' a voice said behind him.

Jesse turned round to see a man; obviously he has somehow escaped from the fight and was still coming after his target. The man raised his hands, as if to do something, Jesse then recognised the gesture and quickly massed out to avoid being blown up.

'You call that an exploding power? Let me tell you buddy, my sister has an a lot stronger one than that,' said a voice.

Phoebe suddenly came out of nowhere and jumped off the top of the crate, she didn't the man time to react as she delivered a series of fast punches to his face, then fly kicked him to knock him out.

Phoebe and Jesse appeared with the little boy and met Brennan and Lexa in the centre of the room, all of them where covered in dirt, cuts and bruises and where extremely eager to get home to crawl into bed.

'So… How'd I do?'

Phew! That was quite hard! But I did it!

Chapter 6 is a Piper and Paige story 'The Centaur Mentor' will be up soon.


	6. The Centaur Mentor

Alright I have decided! I'm making this a split story and Piper and Paige are going to have a big bad to fight, as well as Phoebe, but can they beat it without each others help?

**The Centaur Mentor**

'Dammit,' a very flustered Paige Matthews cursed as she dropped the grocery bag that was holding, on to foot. She fumbled about with her keys; she was wearing gloves, which made it harder to find the right key. Paige shivered and looked up at the sky and weather forecast said it was to snow tonight, and she didn't doubt it, already there was dull grey clouds covering the winter night sky. She finally found the right key and unlocked the door, proceeded to pick up the items that had fell out of the shopping bag and entered the warmth of the house.

'Piper! Where are you?' Paige called out to her big sister; she took off her gloves,

unwound her scarf, removed her coat and hung them up at the door. After not getting an answer from Piper, she decided to investigate upstairs.

Piper sitting in a meditating position on her bedroom floor, a peaceful new age soundtrack was emitting from the stereo, when she felt she was ready, Piper began.

She had had trouble controlling her massing and phasing powers ever since she got them, since they both had the same trigger, like her freezing and exploding power, when she went to do one, she did the other and she was willing to try anything to stop this from happening. After all, it could be life saving, if she jumped in front of someone to mass out and take an energy ball for him or her, she might phase by accident and the energy ball would go straight through her, and hit the person she was trying to protect.

Piper decided she was ready, her breathing was the trigger, and so she took a deep breath and tried to mass out. Her body defied her mind and began to phase, but she set herself back on track and massed, then she phased, then massed, then phased, and she hadn't did it all by accident.

Piper smiled _Mass, phase, mass, phase, mass…_ she thought, she finally had her power down.

Suddenly, Paige came bursting through the door as Piper phased, she was startled by this and ended up going through the floor and landing on Leo, who had just orbed in from Magic School.

'Ooooo sorry!' Paige said apologetically as she ran down the stairs to meet her annoyed, but unharmed sister.

'People knock Paige! People usually knock!' said a pissed Piper before she lifted herself off her husband.

Leo, still a little dazed, got up with a groan.

'Do you need anything healed?' Paige asked.

'No I'm fine, all I need is an ice pack,' he answered rubbing his head

'Why would you need an ice pack? Am I heavy?' Piper said, sounding hurt.

'No, it's just that you accidentally punched me with one of your rings during you 'graceful' descent'

'Oh, okay I'll get you one honey,' she said, sounding like her caring self now that she was satisfied with the answer.

Leo followed her into the kitchen, leaving Paige alone in the foyer.

'Is anybody gonna help with these shopping bags?' she asked in vain.

The next morning, Piper was surprised what she saw, the snow had fell very thickly during the night, and it was still going! Leo had already left; being a headmaster of a school meant he had to be away early and usually in late. But Piper didn't always mind, she just thought that the time she did get to spend with him was more meaningful.

She opened the door and made her way downstairs, to run into Paige, who had her hair in a towel, a coffee mug in her hand and a stumble in her step.

'Good Morning,' she said wearily.

'Obviously it's not, what's wrong?' questioned Piper.

'I slept in, I'm late for work and this coffee tastes like crap,' her baby sister answered dryly as she pasted Piper on the stairs and went straight to her room.

Piper turned on the TV in the kitchen and began to make breakfast for her and the boys, she was getting Chris's bottle ready when she saw the news report.

'Traffic is backlogged all through the city because of the record amounts of snow, if you're trying to get to work, you'll be waiting a long time,' the weather girl said cheerfully.

Piper sneered at the screen, that weather girl always seemed to be in a good mood, despite if it was raining, snowing, Piper was willing to bet that even if meteors where falling from the sky, she would still be smiling her pearly white smile.

Paige appeared at the door, ready to go to work, but as soon as she saw the weather report, her face fell.

'Ugh, how am I going to get to work with all that snow?' she said dismayed with he face in her hands.

'Hmmmmmm… that's a problem, and one I don't have time for, because I also have to go to work,'

Paige's face suddenly split into a large grin.

'It's okay, I think I just solved my problem.' She picked up her purse 'Want a lift on the orb train?'

Piper sighed 'No thanks, when this little bit of personal gain bites you in the ass, I don't want to be a part of it,'

'Your loss,' her little sister answered simply before she disappeared in a swirl of white lights

Paige orbed into her office, she had a quick look around, and she seemed to be the only person here. She decided to get to work on the large pile of foster parent review papers that had mounted up on her desk.

There was a bright flash coming from outside her office, she looked and instantly regretted orbing to work.

A portal had opened up in the middle of the room, Paige was even more amazed at what came through, a man rode in on a horse and crashed into a wall, Paige was about to check on him, when another thing came through… it was a demon!

The demon seemed to be quite barbaric, he was tall, and was wearing a big goofy grin on his face. He formed an energy ball and was preparing to finish and horse rider off when Paige grabbed his attention.

'Hey!' Paige called out threateningly

The demon turned around and saw, what he thought, was easy prey, but he was wrong. He launched the ball at Paige who deflected it back with her telekinetic powers. The demon seemed to not be affected by this rebound attack, Paige then threw out her arm, and the demon went flying into a nearby desk.

She suddenly remembered what she kept in her purse in case of emergencies.

'Potion!' she called.

The potion disappeared from the purse in her office and rematerialized in her hand.

She walked up to the demon and threw the potion; she had made it to stun enemies, and not to kill. The demon was knocked out and lay in the remains of her secretary's desk. She took this time to examine the first thing that had come through the portal and gasped. It seemed that the top of a man was on where the horse's head should be; the 'man' was unconscious because of the arrow that was in his shoulder. Paige then realised it wasn't a man, it was a centaur.

Piper stood in the Great Hall at Magic School, tapping for foot in annoyance, she had warned Paige _not_ to orb to work, and now something like this happens, she was planning going with Leo to the park with the boys so they could enjoy snow for the first time, but magic, yet again, was getting in the way.

Paige came down the long hallway to face her big sister, this was a confrontation that she was dreading, she decided just to stick to the facts and get out of there as soon as possible.

'I stuck the demon in a crystal cage in one of the dungeons, he won't be getting out anytime soon, let alone waking up,'

'What about your four-legged friend?'

'Leo's helping me look for the spell to give him two legs, we can't heal his wound until he's human so we need to find it fast,'

'Why not just write your own spell?'

'With our history? No thank you,'

'Oh so it's now you decide to preach about magic backfiring on us,'

That hurt, Paige thought, but she did deserve it.

'Look I said I was sorry, what more do you want?'

Piper just looked down at the floor, still tapping her foot.

'Just find the spell, I'll go and interrogate our 'witness',' she said as she made her way to the dungeon.

_It's times like this I really miss Phoebe_ thought Paige; she sighed and began looking through the shelves for any books on transmographication.

After 3 hours of searching and centaur life saving, Leo found a book that might be useful.

'Look here, it has a potion to turn animals into humans,' he said as he showed the Paige the book.

'I think we've got most of these herbs at home, and the blood won't be a problem since that wound hasn't stopped bleeding, but I don't if we have that,' she said pointing at a place on the page.

'I think we have some of that in the potions lab, I'll go check,' Leo said and he walked off the potions district of the school.

Piper walked in to the library holding the Book Of Shadows, she seemed to have cooled down as she gave Paige eye contact as she walked in the room.

'Well our buddy downstairs is holding out on us, but he is in the book,' she announced as she handed the book to Paige.

'Lower level Mercenary Demons,' she read aloud 'This is the less intelligent species of Mercenary Demon, put is popular as their services are cheap, they are easy to control, and as they are common, a lot can be hired at the same time,' she stopped and looked at Piper 'That means that someone might have more of these ready to attack?'

'Probably, but as I said, he's holding out on us, but I did fid some info on centaurs,' she turned a couple of pages in the book and her sister began to read aloud again.

'Although centaurs are mythical creatures, they have no magical power, and are only considered supernatural because of their fame throughout magical tales,' Paige stopped again 'That means that he wasn't the one who opened the portal,'

'Hold on there missy, read on,'

Paige complied 'However, in some rare cases, centaurs are born with extreme magical power, they are considered lords of their tribes and are usually leaders. Their magic is coveted by many as because of it's raw, unshaped power, it is useful for rituals and sacrifices, and considered dangerous for any non-centaur to absorb,' she looked at the centaur that was lying on the floor, and suddenly realised that they didn't have time for this 'Okay, could look after him?' she asked, pointing at the centaur 'I need to orb home and get find the herbs we need to make the potion that turns him human,' Piper nodded 'Thanks, if all goes well, you still take the boys to the park,'

'What? How do you know?'

'Leo told me, he's looking forward to it,' she winked before she orbed out.

'He failed? Oh _they_ will not be happy,' said one of the mercenary captains, who was currently sitting in his underworld chambers, hearing that one of his men had been captured.

'I don't see why we're working for them, they're what we fight against,' his second in command said.

'Ah, they may look like our enemies, but there are anything but, and when they come to full power again, The Charmed Ones will be finished,' he answered, clasping his hands and smiling.

'What about the centaur?'

'What about him?'

'The witches have him,'

'No matter, they'll bring him out into the open once they've healed them,'

'But we were lucky to get a shot at him last time, how are we gonna do it again? And then there's the witches to worry about if they find out they'll…ugh!'

The demon was stopped in mid sentence as he was blown up from behind, two people could be seen in the shadows, but their faces weren't visible.

'He was too negative,' a woman's voice said. The captain was immediately on his knees in front of the two people.

'You better get us that centaur Craydon, or you'll be next.' Another woman's voice said threateningly.

'Ladies, I can assure you we'll get him, but The Charmed Ones-,'

'The Charmed Ones will have to deal with us if they interfere again, now go!' the second woman shouted, the demon immediately shimmered out in fear.

'You do know that until we break the bond we have with The Charmed Ones, our fight would just end up being a stalemate,' the first woman said mockingly.

'Of course I do! Just because I'm not the oldest doesn't mean I'm any less smarter, but we may need to keep The Charmed Ones distracted if Craydon fails,'

'Yes, and it's something I'm looking forward to,' the woman stepped out of the shadows, she was medium height, had long brown hair that went down to the small of her back, and was wearing normal human clothes… it was Piper!

Paige orbed back in to the library holding the jars that held the herbs they needed, she walked and found and looked for Piper, who she found in the nursery with Wyatt and Chris, she was sitting down on the floor playing with them. She hadn't noticed her little sister's presence so Paige decided to do this alone, she was better at making potions than Piper anyway.

It suddenly hit Paige, how much time does Piper spend away from her family? Probably more than she does with them, and she knew that it wasn't by choice.

Suddenly, there was a loud noise from the library, Piper came out of the nursery to investigate, it sounded like a spooked horse… The centaur!

The two sisters ran into the library; only to find Leo on the floor, and the centaur up on its hind legs, ready to bring his front legs down on Leo! Piper quickly put hand up and froze the scene; she then unfroze Leo, who was glad to see the centaur had been stopped in his tracks.

He stood up, obviously shaken 'Here's the herb you wanted,' he handed the plant to Paige.

'Thanks, what happened?' she enquired.

'Well, I came in here looking for you guys, when he woke up and started going crazy! I couldn't exactly throw a lightning bolt at him so I tried to talk to him, that's where you guys came in,'

'Alright, Paige, make that potion, he'll be a lot less dangerous when he's human, you,' she said looking at Leo 'go and see if that demon ready to talk yet, I'll stay and keep hoof boy frozen,' she looked the statue wearily…

Paige announced that the potion was ready and came into the library.

'He unfroze at all yet?' she asked her sister.

'Twice, and I think he's figuring how to fight it off,' she answered; Piper had sat down on one of the big comfy chairs that the library offered.

'Alright, you ready?' Paige asked her sister, who just nodded.

Piper unfroze the centaur and was surprised when its front legs finally came crashing down on the floor. Paige took the creature's confusion as the perfect opportunity to throw the potion. It smashed off the animal's torso and slowly began to turn his horse legs into human ones.

Leo was there to cover the man with his robe after the transformation had taken place, Paige pouted at this, calling him a spoilsport. The man immediately fell to the ground, not being used to his new legs, not to mention he was still bleeding, but that was taken care of after Paige healed him.

'Where am I? Who are you? What have you done to me?' he obviously had a lot of questions, Piper decided to answer them factually.

'Magic School, witches, and we turned you human so we could heal you wound, so now I have questions, why was that demon chasing you and why did think it was appropriate to materialize into my sister's office?'

'He stood up from his seat, he stumbled a little nut then got his balance, he seemed to be getting the hang of human legs 'That demon was after what all demons are after, my powers, and the reason I went to your sister is because she was the closest and most powerful force a could sense,'

Paige seemed to be honoured by this, but continued the questions 'Yeah, we guessed he was after you for your power, but he's just a lower level demon, surely you could have taken care of him?' Paige then realised something and laughed 'I'm sorry we don't even know your name,'

The man smiled at her before turning to look out the window, 'My name Rodan, and the reason I came to you is because this runs a lot deeper than mercs,'

'What do you mean?' Piper asked

'There is something on the horizon, something more powerful than anything you've faced, I have seen it in the stars, I believe that they hired the demons to do their bidding,' he said in a low voice.

Piper and Paige looked at each other, they really wanted this to be over and done with, Paige hadn't been to work all day and Piper wanted to spend time with her family.

'Well, we have the means to take out the mercs but we can't do anything about the super strong evil that you're talking about.' Paige said, waving the mercenary vanquishing potions at him.

'But if there is something controlling these guys they're going to keep coming after him,' said Piper, then an idea hit her 'How would you feel about us stripping your powers?'

Rodan's eyes widened, and so did his smile 'Are you kidding? I would love to be powerless! That way I don't have to be a leader or do important stuff for the tribe anymore!'

'Leo, can we do even do that?' Paige asked

'Of course, all magic is the same, no matter what kind of species it's in,'

'Alright then! Let's get rid of those pesky powers for you shall we?'…

There was an entire horde of mercenaries in Craydon's chambers; he ordered them to be on standby until they sensed the centaur come out hiding.

'I'm getting bored!' one of them said.

'Silence!' Craydon bellowed, there was silence, then the same demon piped up again

'Those witches are cowards! Let's bring the fight to them!' there was a roar of approval, then silence began to creep in from the back, the demon who began the rally was hit by a lightning bolt and vanquished.

'How about we bring the fight to you instead?' a voice said.

The demons turned around to see Leo, Piper and Paige standing at the cave entrance, with murderous looks on their faces.

Leo and Piper began to vanquish and demons with ease, lightning bolts and explosions were flying all over the place, Paige covered them by throwing potions and deflecting any attacks that came at them.

Once there were all dead, Craydon stood up 'The centaur?'

'Free, and powerless,' Piper answered before blowing him up and sending him to hell.

The three of them orbed out to go and enjoy the snow as a family, they got the boys ready for going out before they come down here.

After they disappeared Piper and Paige came out of the shadows, but there were different, more like it was a different Piper and Paige.

'You have to hand it to our counterparts, they sure do know how to throw a demonic massacre,'

'Yes, I just hope we do ten times the amount of damage when we attack,' Paige answered her big sister.

'So do I, lets go home,' Piper answered, Paige took her hand and dark orbed out of the cave,'

It had been dark for quite a while now, but that didn't stop the Haliwells, Paige was helping the boys build a snowman as Piper and Leo cuddled on a nearby bench.

Paige decided to break their calmness by throwing a snowball at Piper, which hit her square in the face!

'Paige Matthews! I'm going to break your legs for that!' Piper warned, Paige just laughed it off and began running away from her angry sister. Paige kept a steady pace, making sure she didn't slip, Piper however, intent on getting revenge, lost her balance and fell!

Paige began laughing again, but stopped when Piper wasn't moving, she walked up to her sister to make sure she was alright.

She was surprised when Piper suddenly got up and hurled a snowball at her, which it her face.

'Gotcha!' Piper laughed at the shocked look on her face.

Paige began to laugh too 'Oh! You're gonna _pay_ for that sister!' she said.

This went on for another 15 minutes and 15 minutes more after Leo was hit by accident and he decided to join in, the children just laughed. When they were walking home Piper realised, that, even just for a little while, she had had a normal life…

So… tired… that took 7 pages on Microsoft Word! But I feel it was worth it! I especially liked the ending

I haven't decided on Chapter 7 yet, more Piper and Paige, or back to Phoebe? If you want a say, you need to review!


	7. A Charming Christmas

Hey there! I have decided to do another chapter on Piper and Paige! This chapter was inspired by the holiday season, so enjoy!

PS: This there isn't really any peril in this chapter, it's really just a little Christmas story, which I thought would be good to do, as they never address it in the show, btw, Wyatt is 4 and Chris is 2.

**A Charming Christmas**

'Hmmmm… no, a little more to left,' Piper was completely redoing the decorations on the Christmas tree.

'Here?' Leo asked as he moved the decorationover to the left.

'No, a little more to the right,' Piper paused and stood back to admire her work, she smiled, and then scowled 'Nope all wrong,'

Leo sighed out of frustration 'Piper, it's a Christmas tree, not a masterpiece,'

'Well it is to me, so you go and do what you want,' Piper retorted.

Leo sighed again; he knew she would be unapproachable for a while so he went for a shower.

It was December 23rd, and although the decorations had been up in the house for a while, Piper had redone the Christmas tree about 6 times. Paige came in with two cups of hot chocolate and handed one to her flustered big sister.

'Alright, what tree branch is a centimetre out of place this time?' she asked mockingly, taking a seat in the in the living room.

Piper glared at her 'I know seems silly to you but it's important to me, Wyatt is now at an age where he can appreciate Christmas and although Chris isn't there yet, I want to have the perfect Christmas,'

'Aw sweetie, I didn't know Christmas was so important to you,' Paige stood up, putting an arm around her sister's shoulder 'I will not mock your psychotic obsession with perfection ever again,'

Piper smiled 'Thank you, now could you get Wyatt for me? I promised him he could put the star on top of the tree,'

'I'm surprised you didn't go with an angel, seeing as how we've met one,'

'I may have married an angel, but I don't want one on the top of my tree, now could you please go and get Wyatt?'

At the sound of his name, Wyatt appeared next to his mother in a glow of orbs.

'Alright honey, now see this star?' Piper gave him the large Silver Star 'Why don't you put it on the top?'

Wyatt smiled at his mother; he looked down at the object in his hands and orbed it to the top of the tree.

The three stood back to admire the centrepiece of their Christmas spirit. Piper had been in charge of decorating the house, Leo was always annoyed when she bought an expensive decoration, he said that what was the point in spending a lot of money on something that's only useful for 3 weeks?

But all he got from Piper was the silent treatment; he had learned just to keep his mouth shut.

'Well I have to say sis, you've really outdid yourself this year,' Paige said

'You think?' her big sister answered, want more praise.

'Of course! Now if you'll excuse me, I have to wrap up some presents for certain nephews,' she said, looking down at Wyatt and ruffling his hair.

'Is it that wed fire twuck I saw at the toy store, Auntie Paige?' Wyatt asked innocently.

'Maybe, but you need to wait for two days until you find out, speaking of presents,' she looked to Piper 'Have you got Phoebe a present?'

'Yeah, but I was just going to give it to her when she got back,'

'Well give it me, me and the boys have put together a Christmas box that we were going to send to her magically, you can put your present in,'

'What's in it?'

'You know, presents from all of us, cards, photos, stuff that lets her know we miss her,'

'Alright, I'll give it you later, but you go and wrap your presents, and you, little man,' she said, picking up Wyatt 'are going to bed, big boys need their sleep,'

'And so do big girls,' Paige said stifling a yawn 'C'mon, Wyatt, lets go and let your mom bask in her magnificent Christmas display,' she left the room with Wyatt in her arms. 'Good night!' she called to her big sister.

'Night!' she called back.

'Don't forget! We're going after the Sol Demons tomorrow,'

'Yeah, yeah, just wake up before dawn and I'll be there,'

Piper flopped back into a vacant chair, she was about to nod off, but forced herself to move, as she needed all her rest if she was going to be awoken at 5:30am**………**

'Piper, Piper wake up!' Paige whispered to her sister. Piper's eyes fluttered open, she saw Paige standing above her, heavily wrapped up, with a flask in one hand, and a bag of vanquishing potions in the other.

'Ugh… what time is it?' she asked groggily.

'It's just after 5:40,' her sister answered, pointing at the numbers on the digital clock beside the bed.

'Okay, gimme 5 minutes and I'll be ready,'

Paige nodded and walked out of the room, Piper got of bed and started to pull on some heavy clothes, the snow had kept going ever since the day with the centaur, it had been on and off, but since none had melted, it mounted up.

To make things worse, because of the snow clouds, they couldn't see the sun, so the two sisters had to get up early every morning, just so they wouldn't miss the demons. The Sol Demons only attacked at sunrise, so they had to be prepared to fight demons before 8am! Piper then groaned, she remembered that tonight was a full moon, which was when the Luna Demons came out to play, she would need to remind Paige later, hopefully before the moon rose tonight. Of all days to be full of fighting, it had to be Christmas Eve.

She crept out of her room, being careful not wake Leo, and made her way downstairs to the kitchen, where Paige was sitting with a cup of coffee.

'Want some? It's really strong,'

Piper nodded and got a cup out of the cabinet, and let Paige fill her up. She took one sip and made a face.

'This is like tar!' Piper exclaimed.

'I said it was strong, I didn't say it was good,' her sister replied in her defence.

'Let's just forget it and go for the demons,' she said 'What have you got in the flask? More 'strong' coffee?'

Paige shot her a look 'No, it's hot chocolate, we might as well have a nice hot beverage if we're on stake out,'

'Won't that make us sleepy?'

'Probably, but here's the incentive for staying awake, if you fall asleep, I'll be forced to hit you with a snowball,' she answered innocently.

'Oh really?' Piper said with a smile 'Alright, that applies to you too, lets go!' she took her sisters hand and they orbed out to their destination**………**

'We've been sitting here for half an hour, are you sure your scrying wasn't off?'

Piper was offended by this comment and gave her sister a hurt look.

'My scrying is never off! Your orbing was probably off!'

'Ugh! We don't have the time or the patience for this just get the crystal out and try again!'

They had been sitting in this ally for a long time, waiting for the demons to show up, Paige had surrendered to her tiredness and sat down on the top of a trashcan. Their hot chocolate supply was nearly gone and it was getting a bit lighter in the sky, you could see that even through the clouds.

'Our innocent is still here;' Piper answered, she folded up the map and put it back in her pocket 'This is ridiculous! It's Christmas Eve! We should be sleeping in, watching corny Christmas films on TV while the gentle aroma of turkey fills the air! Not hunting for demons and freezing our asses off at the same time!'

'Well, looks like your little rant as finally moved this along, down here!' Paige beckoned her big sister to behind a dumpster 'There he is!' she whispered.

Their innocent was a man, was breathing into his gloveless hands in a vain attempt to warm himself up.

Suddenly, there was a glow behind him, and three demons appeared, they were dressed in rags, and all had a tattoo of the sun on their foreheads. One of them ignited something in their hand and prepared to strike.

'That's our cue,' Paige said, the two of them ran out from behind the dumpster, Piper froze the innocent so that he wouldn't be an exposure risk. The demon looked at each other baffled but knew what was going on when Piper and Paige came into view.

'Up for a party boys?' Piper asked them.

The demons just growled and threw some sort of sunbeam at the girls. Piper grabbed Paige's hand and massed out before the beams hit, the beam reflected in all directions, the light was blinding on this dark winter morning but unfortunately the demons were used to this sort of light.

One of them ran forward and telekinetically threw Paige against the ally wall, she was knocked out! Piper realised that she would have to do something to stall them for a couple of seconds, which would give her enough time to get to Paige, who had the vanquishing potions.

She flicked her wrists to blow the demon up, but it only caused it to stumble. Piper then blew up a small part of the wall of the building that she was next to. This caused all the bricks to fly towards the demon.

She took opportunity to check on Paige.

'Paige c'mon, shake it off, get up!

Paige was slightly groggy, but awake enough to see that the demons were coming at them again, but Piper couldn't see them, as she had her back to them. Paige quickly came to her senses and threw her arm out, causing all three demons to crash into the opposite wall.

She stood up and handed some of the potions that were in the bag to Piper, who then threw them at the crippled creatures lying on the ground, causing them writhe in their vanquishing flames and even melting the snow they had landed on.

Paige went over to the pile of ash that was now the demons and held her hands over it.

'Mmmmm… toasty!' she said with a smirk.

Piper unfroze the innocent, who was shocked to see two woman standing where, a second ago, had been empty space.

'Nice weather huh?' Piper said, holding her hands out as if to catch the snow. The man gave her a look then nodded and continued walking.

'C'mon, let's go home before we end up with frickin frostbite,'

Paige laughed at her dramatic sister and orbed their weary selves home**………**

The Great Hall was buzzing with the chitchat of the Magic School students that were going home for the holidays; Leo was looking over them, asking the more forgetful students if they had everything. Paige orbed into the middle of the hall, earning 'wows' from the students, she just smiled and went over to Leo.

'Paige? What are you doing here?' he enquired

'Hello to you too,' was her sarcastic response 'I was wondering if this place stocks powdered dragon scale, we ran out at home and we need it to make the Luna vanquishing potion,'

'Uh I don't know, you'll have to ask Miss deLauro,' Leo answered

'Miss deLauro?'

'Yeah I just hired her, she's the new head of potions,'

'Alright, where will I find her?'

'Uh, she might still in her classroom, but I'm not sure,'

'Okay, thanks,'

Paige walked down the hall and crossed the courtyard to the other part of the building, she looked at her watch, it was only 2:30 and the sky was already dimming.

_I guess that's to be expected of a winter's night_ Paige thought, she wrapped her arms around herself and jogged across the rest of the way.

She entered the potions department and heard voices coming from a classroom; she looked around the doorway and found who she was looking for.

She guessed that the woman in the black robe was Miss deLauro, she was a lot younger than Paige expected, she looked about 25-30, she had red hair that went just past her shoulders and was wearing jeans and a turtle neck underneath her robes.

The other woman looked about the same age, but she was a little shorter, and had long, blond, wavy hair. They hadn't noticed Paige standing at the door, as the redhead was wiping down the blackboard

'So I was talking to Jess a couple of days ago, he said that they have a new addition to the team,' and blond woman began.

'Really? What's she like?'

'Apparently quite nice, she has powers like yours, but I'm planning on going up there, just to check her out, can't have an unwanted visitor in my house now can we?'

'Shal,' and redhead sighed 'You are so territorial, do me favour and try not to scare this one, okay?'

'Hey! That was only once and I can't help the fact that being territorial is imprinted into my genes,' Shal said with a laugh.

Paige decided it was about time she interrupted, she knocked on the door and waited for a reply.

'Can I help you?' the teacher said kindly.

'Hopefully, are you Miss deLauro?' Paige asked

'Yeah, and call me Emma, what can I do for you? You don't look like a student,'

'I'm not,' Paige smiled 'I'm Paige by the way,' she held out her hand

'Well, I'm Emma,' she answered, shaking Paige's hand 'Oh! And this is my friend, Shalimar,'

'Nice to meet you,' Shalimar stepped forward and shook hands.

'You too,' Paige smiled

'Alright, now you must have had a reason for coming here besides introductions,'

Paige laughed 'You're right, I was wondering if you have any powdered dragon scale?'

'Dragon scale? I think I've got some in the store cupboard, let me check,' Emma replied and went to the door at the back of the classroom.

'Hey Em, I gotta run, I'll see you later,' Shalimar called to her friend

'Alright, bye!' she called from the store cupboard.

Shalimar gave Paige a respectful nod as she left the room; she stopped at the doorway and said 'Merry Christmas,'

'Oh, you too,' Paige replied.

Emma came out of the store holding a jar 'There you go! One jar of powdered dragon scale,'

'Thanks!'

'Powdered dragon scale huh? Must be a pretty powerful vanquishing potion you're making, but I wouldn't expect anything less from a Charmed One,' Paige gave her a shocked look 'Oh! It's just that Leo was telling me about his family this morning, and Paige isn't a common name, so I put two and two together…'

Paige nodded, although the explanation seemed a little far fetched, maybe it something to do with her powers… she would need to ask Leo about her later.

'Uh… yeah! It is powerful, my sister and I are going after the Luna demons tonight so we need a kick ass potion, thanks again,'

'Alright! Nice meeting you! Merry Christmas!' Emma answered cheerfully before Paige orbed out**………**

Paige orbed into the kitchen, to find Piper laughing with her father, he had been invited by Piper for Christmas and was staying the night in Phoebe's room.

'Paige!' he said, holding out his arms for a hug.

'Hey Mr. Bennett!' she answered enthusiastically, giving him a hug and putting the jar down on the counter top as the same time.

'Call me Victor,' he said, releasing her.

They sat down on the stools in the kitchen.

'Okay, you wanna take over?' Piper asked her sister, Paige had really become the potions mistress of the house, Phoebe was the best with spells, they had had to learn and master these areas of witchcraft when Piper was pregnant. They had been a poor substitute for The Power Of Three, but the two had hadto make do with what they had.

'Sure,' she switched places with Piper and began stirring the simmering potion.

'So Victor, how long are you in town?' Paige asked.

'Probably just for the holidays, maybe for new years, I don't know,'

Paige nodded 'Could you pass that jar please?'

Victor picked up the jar and looked at the turquoise dust in it 'What is this stuff?'

'Powdered dragon scale!' Piper replied.

He gave his daughter a look with one eyebrow raised, but handed over the jar none the less.

'I'm ready to go, I'll get your coat,' Piper said to her baby sister, as soon as the potion was ready, they were going on stake out again to find and kill the Luna Demons.

'Alright,' she answered, Piper left the room 'Victor, you might want to stand back,'

He eyed Paige wearily and backed away, as did Paige. She took a pinch of the powder in between her fingers and threw it at the pot; the result caused an explosion in the pot that made Victor crouch in fear.

'Told you to stand back,' she said as she began bottling the potion.

'Here you go,' Piper had come back in and handed Paige her coat 'Okay Dad, could you look after the boys? Leo will be home soon, but I don't know how long this is going to take so I might not be home in time for dinner,'

Victor nodded and marvelled when his daughter and her sister disappeared in a dazzle of lights**………**

Piper and Paige yet again braved the cold of a San Francisco winter, this alley looked exactly like the one they had been in that morning, but it was even colder. They been in the alley for over three hours, the frustration, coldness and boredom had set in.

'I thought these scum were supposed to attack when a full moon rose? The moon's already half way across the- finally!' Paige ended with triumph.

A shaft of moonlight passed over the alleyway, then demons appeared, they were dressed in the same way as the Sols, but they had a tattoo of a moon.

They huddled together, as if they were planning something, the girls were impatient and decided to attack.

Paige astraled out in front of them, grabbing their attention.

'Hey you guys!' she said cheerfully.

The Lunas attacked in the same the Sols did, except it was with moonlight, as soon as Paige was hit her astral form disappeared, this left them confused, Piper took advantage of this.

'Looking for me?' she appeared out of the shadows and threw the vanquishing potions and killed all three instantly.

Paige came out of her hiding place, where she had went to astral out safely.

'Well! That was a lot easier than this morning!'

'Yeah! And we only waited three hours for three seconds of fighting!' Piper answered sarcastically.

'Oh stop your complaining! Let's go home,' Piper was in complete agreement and took Paige's hand, willing her to orb faster**………**

Wyatt was dragging his Mom and Dad down the stairs, Paige was following with Chris in her arms and Victor behind her.

'Slow down!' Leo pleaded 'I know you're excited about opening your presents but they're still gonna be there in two seconds!'

'Oh c'mon Leo,' Paige warned 'It's Christmas Morning after all,'

They entered the living room and Wyatt gasped at all the presents that were lying there.

'Well, looks like Santa visited during the night!' Victor said**………**

After 10 minutes, Wyatt and Chris were busily opening their presents; they were especially pleased at the fire truck for Wyatt and the police car for Chris.

'Thank you Auntie Paige!' they said in unison as they continued to open the abundance of presents from their parents.

'Your welcome,' Paige replied, unable to keep the smile off her face at the sight of her nephews almost drowning in a sea of wrapping paper. She was even happier when she opened her present from Piper and Leo. She opened the box and gasped, it was the leather jacket that she had been staring at ina shop window with Piper a couple of weeks ago!

'Piper I love it! Thank you!' she exclaimed, almost as excited as Wyatt and Chris as she tried it on, but then she stopped 'You guys, this must of cost you a fortune, not to mention all the things for the kids,' she said guiltily.

'Don't worry about it,' Leo assured her 'It's Christmas, that gives us the right to splurge on gifts,'

Paige smiled 'Well, if that's the case, here are your presents,' she handed over two small boxes. Piper and Leo opened them and where immediately grinning at the contents. Piper's box held inside a beautiful gold necklace, which had a pendent on it, and on the back of the pendent, there was a triquetra engraved on it. Leo had received a watch, since he was always late and always orbing off at inappropriate times, Paige had given him something to keep on track, an expensive something**………**

After dinner, everyone had eaten so much that they ended up falling asleep in front of the fire, all except Leo and Piper.

'So, was this the perfect Christmas?' Leo asked his wife.

Piper looked around, and boys had been playing with all the things that their parents had got them, it had tired them out and they fell asleep beside Victor. Piper had to hold back a laugh when she saw Paige snoozing on the sofa, with her leather jacket draped over her as a cover.

'Yes,' she said simply 'But there's one more thing I need to do,'

Piper stood up and walked into the sunroom, there was a large box on the coffee table; it was the box they were planning on sending Phoebe through 'Magical Mail'

Piper had one more thing to add.

Earlier on in the day, when they were all awake, Paige had taken a picture of all of them together, she had held the camera telekinetically so she could be in the picture. Piper put the picture in, along with letters, presents, and cards and closed the lid of the box. She was suddenly inspired by her happiness and managed to write a spell with ease.

'Send this gift to my sister, wherever she be,

Through time, through space, give this to thee,'

The box disappeared in a flurry of white lights**………**

Phoebe was just turning in for the night, even without family this had been a good Christmas; she sat down in front of the computer in her room and looked wearily at her reflection in the screen.

Suddenly, white lights appeared on her bed, when they disappeared, a box was in their place. Phoebe was cautious, she opened the box carefully and when she saw what was in it, her heart broke.

There was a picture of her sisters, Leo, her nephews, and her Dad; she looked further and found presents, letters and cards, all from her family. She noticed a card that was on the top of the box, she opened it.

_Just to remind you that you'll never be alone…_

_Love,_

_Piper, Paige, Leo, Wyatt, Chris and Dad_

That was her breaking point; she burst into tears and began crying into her hands. Brennan who had to pass her room to get to his own, noticed that she was upset and went to see what was wrong.

'Hey, what's wrong?' he asked quietly. She looked at him, but just kept on crying, he quickly comforted her by kneeling down in front of her and pulling her into a tight hug.

She hadn't expected this to be so hard, she had been having a great time with her new friends, but now she missed her family more than ever. She then realised that she would get over this; she had such a strong friendships with Mutant X already. Brennan was alreadycalming her down, stroking her hair and letting her use his shirt as a tissue, she eventually fell asleep in his arms. He delicately lay her down on the bed, got a throw from her closet, and gently put it over her. He left the room, putting the light out on his way, and hoped that in the morning, everything would seem better**…**

Wow! That was even longer than the last chapter! But I enjoyed writing it! And I hope you all enjoyed reading it!

Chapter 8 'Love At First Fire' will be up soon, it's a Piper and Paige chapter, I think I will be back to Phoebe after that… 


	8. Love At First Fire

Hi! Thanks to those who have reviewed, this is going to be the last Piper and Paige chapter for a while, but I will come back, as they seem to be popular!

Princess Pinky – thanks for your enthusiastic responses! And I will explain Emma and Shalimar a little later in the story (I've changed the history of Mutant X in more ways than one!)

PiPeRAnGeL39 – thanks for your encouragement! I'll keep writing!

CuteLittleBritt – thanks for the praise! Praise is what keeps this story going!

andy20 – my first reviewer, thanks for sticking with this story!

I'm so glad that people are enjoying my work! I'll keep going with this story; I'm even planning on a sequel lol!

Love At First Fire 

Paige was working late again, ever since she became a social worker again; she wanted to prove to her boss, and to herself, that she was worthy for this job and maybe even a promotion. But thanks to her long work hours, she had fell asleep at her desk and was drooling slightly on the pile of paperwork that she was using as a pillow. She was sleeping peacefully; she didn't even stir, not even in the slightest, even when smoke started to seep through the bottom of the door**………**

Piper was sitting with Chris in her lap, watching the 11 o'clock news. She sighed, Paige had been out the door by 7am and was still not home, she would need to talk to her little sister about her work hours. Something caught her attention on the TV, it was the name of the building that Paige worked at, she turned it up

'Fire fighters are doing their best to fight off the blaze, put it seems to be spreading too fast, they're trying to subdue the flames long enough so that a rescue team can get in and retrieve the only person left in the building, according to the doorman, this person is the only person that hasn't exited the building yet,'

The reporter's voice rang out through the room. Piper froze in terror, realising that the only person left… was Paige!**………**

Paige was beginning to come around, she slowly opened her eyes _It's hot _was her immediate reaction, but as she opened her eyes, she realised that her office was on fire! She began looking around desperately, hoping to find the source of the flames, instead, she found someone.

'Hope you burn in Hell, witch!' the person shouted over the crackling blaze.

'You wish!' Paige began to orb out, but before the orbs could envelop her, the warlock (she guessed) gestured at the ceiling, and brought a piece of it down on Paige's head, knocking her out! The warlock blinked out and left Paige to be swallowed by the flames**………**

'Leo? What's taking so long? Why has she not orbed out? What if she needs our help? What if she's…'

Piper couldn't bring herself to finish her sentence as tears began welling up in her eyes, Leo and her had been standing at the edge of the police tape, looking for any sign of Paige.

'Honey calm down! I'll go in and find her!' Leo assured her, before he disappeared in a blinding flash of orbs**………**

Oh well, looks like this is it Paige thought, she couldn't feel her legs, she assumed that the flames had got to them first, she had regained consciousness a minute ago but she couldn't move, let alone orb, she had just resigned herself to the fact that this was the end 

_I guess I've had a pretty good life, and my sisters have made these last years so special…_

Phoebe… I wish I could see her one last time; there are a lot of wishes… I wish I'd found 'the one'… I wish that a could call myself a mother… but I…guess… it's… time… to… go

Paige shed a tear and closed her eyes, the flames had moved past her waist, the next time she would open her eyes, she hoped she would see pearly white gates, but instead, she heard a voice.

She forced herself to open her eyes again, she saw a man, she couldn't make him out through her dying vision and the smoke, was she crazy? Or was he pushing back the flames with two pillars of water?

The man reached her, he then made gestures with his hands and the water formed a dome around her and himself. He bent down and checked her pulse, she heard him mutter 'Thank God,' Paige then felt a cooling sensation in her body. As a natural reflex, she checked to see what he was doing, and was surprised when she could! He had his hands across her stomach and there was a blue light radiating from his hands. Paige didn't know whether it was because they shared the power of healing, but she felt as if she had known this man her entire life, she trusted him, she may have even _loved_ him! He then took her hands in his own and gently pulled her up, both were standing, hand in hand.

'Thank you, whoever you are,' she thanked him breathlessly

He smiled back at her 'You're welcome; just don't work too late again, okay? I think you'll be able to orb out now,'

'What about you?' Paige asked, her voice full of concern

'I got in here without harm, I think getting out will be just the same, now go, your brother-in-law and sister are outside and are really worried about you,'

'Okay, thank you,' she repeated before orbing out**………**

Piper was wailing in Leo's arms, he had returned, not being able to find Paige and not being able to sense her.

'I was supposed to protect her! She's my baby sister! I can't believe this happened again!' she wept as Leo tried to calm her down. There was a sudden increase in noise and a rush to the buildings entrance as Paige appeared. She had orbed to the entrance, hoping people would just think that she had climbed all the way down from the ninth floor.

Piper saw her and instantaneously vaulted over the yellow tape pushing many police officers and firemen out of the way, she reached Paige and immediately threw her arms around her sister.

'Piper, you're smooshing me!' Paige protested.

'I don't care! I'd rather have a smooshed sister than a dead sister,'**………**

Paige was in the kitchen, she had almost every magical tool in the house on the table, she was sitting spinning a crystal over a world map and a map of the solar system, Piper entered and immediately sighed.

'Still looking for your hero?' Piper mocked

Paige shot her a look 'Yes, could pass over that pot?'

Piper complied; she got a sniff of it and made a face 'What is this?'

'Tracking potion,' she answered simply 'If it works, then I should be able to sense the guy and orb to him,'

'I think we should focus on that demonic arsonist, you know, the one that killed you!?' Piper exclaimed.

'Actually, finding my guy helps us vanquish the warlock, I looked him up and his name is Gart, he is upper level, and has fire based powers,'

'So how does finding 'Mr Right' help us?'

'Whoever he was, his powers came from water, and the Book says that Gart can only be vanquished by an extreme source of opposite power, and what's the opposite of fire?' Paige asked

With a sigh, Piper answered her 'Water,'

Paige clicked her tongue and retorted 'Smart girl,'**………**

There was chaos in Gart's chambers in the underworld, the demonic leaders and came together for his announcement, it was then he blinked in.

'How dare you summon us!' roared one of the leaders, his voice booming from the back.

Gart just laughed, 'Gentlemen! I have called you all here for great news, I, have finally vanquished one of The Charmed Ones,'

'He's lying!' a voice echoed from the back, there where mumbles of agreement.

'I do not lie! I sensed her souls fire being snuffed from existence,' he looked distant 'It was an amazing feeling,'

'Then someone must have desnuffed it, because I have one of my men spying on the witches and both were alive!'

'What!? When was this?'

'This morning!'

Gart looked bewildered, and also embarrassed, he was the laughing stock of the underworld! He blinked out of his cavern, intent on revenge**………**

BANG!!!!! 

The potion that Paige was working on erupted in a thunderous explosion, signing that it was ready. Piper came in and waved her arms about, trying clear out the smoke.

'Trying to die in another fire?' Piper asked jokingly

'Actually, this is one of the most powerful vanquishing potions I have ever made! It'll have to do since I can't find my rescuer,'

Yeah yeah, bottle that thing up, we need to be prepared,' Piper said completely ignoring Paige's comment.

The two walked in to the dining room, vials in hand, they were about to climb the stairs and get the crystal cage ready, but the warlock blinked in before they reached the first step.

'Time for you to really die this time, witch!' he roared.

Piper was aware of him before Paige, she jumped in front of her sister and massed out to protect Paige and herself. But the massing was useless; the flames that the warlock shot hit Piper as if she hadn't massed at all. She fell to the ground, clothes on fire and skin burned so badly that she was beyond recognition.

For Paige, it all happened in slow motion, the warlock was grinning at the burnt person on the ground, he laughed manically and said

'I love the smell of burnt witch in the morning,' he was about to blink when Paige threw the potion at him, it didn't kill him, but it forced him to retreat.

Paige knelt down beside her sister, beating out the burning items of clothing and began to heal her immediately; she was shaking with anger and fear. Despite her best efforts, the healing was only keeping Piper alive, and not healing her fatal burns, it was at this time Leo orbed in.

'Oh my god!' Leo cried, immediately his eyes began to well up.

'Leo, take over!' Paige screamed, her voice shaky as she looked at her dying sister 'I'm going to get help!'

Leo joined his wife on the floor and began trying to heal her, Paige orbed out to an unknown place**……… **

Paige appeared on the top of the Golden Gate Bridge, she began screaming for her saviour, as he had healed her burns last night, she was hoping he could do the same for Piper before it was too late. She didn't care if people could hear or see her, if her big sister died, it would all be worthless.

'LISTEN!!! I DON'T KNOW WHO YOU ARE, BUT MY SISTER NEEDS YOU AND YOU ARE _NOT_ GOING TO LET HER DIE!!!!'

Her outburst seemed to do the trick; she turned round and saw water forming on the ground. The water rose up and slowly took the form of a person, Paige immediately recognised him from last night.

'What can I do?' he said, full of urgency**………**

Leo was still keeping Piper alive, he was crying freely now, because he knew that he was close to running out of magical energy, and if that happened, Piper would die.

C'mon Paige! Where are you? 

As if the heavens had answered his thoughts, Paige appeared in a flurry of orbs, and next to her, water rose up and revealed a person.

'Please! You have to save her!' Paige pleaded, but he was already on the floor, he pressed his hand on Piper's forehead, and the other one on her stomach, like he done with Paige. A blue lighted emitted from his palms and slowly, Piper's skin turned back to normal, and her clothes were back to being the fashion statements they usually were.

Piper didn't even have the time to stand up, as both Paige and Leo brought her into hugs. Paige eventually stood up, Leo stayed on the floor, kissing Piper all over her face.

'Thanks, again,' Paige said sheepishly

'I'm glad I was able to help,' he answered kindly.

They both stared at each other for a while, and then looked down at the ground with red faces, Leo broke the silence.

'Alright, who are you?'

'Easy Leo,' Piper calmed him, putting her hand gently on his chest.

'It's alright, my name is Aidan, and I'm the guardian of Water,'

'What?' Paige asked

'They watch over the world,' Leo said 'The four elements of nature have one, am I right?'

'Yes, although I'm quite new to the job,' Aidan answered, grinning and his face going red again.

'If you watch over the world, then shouldn't you be as old as time?' Piper asked

'It doesn't work that way,' Leo answered 'You see, the guardians are former witches, they don't sit on lofty perches peering down, they lead normal lives so that they blend in, so when one of them dies, another is chosen,'

Aidan nodded, this was the first time Paige had really had a good look at him, he was very handsome, he had blonde hair and striking green eyes, he was even dressed casually in a tight blue shirt and black trousers.

'Why couldn't Leo and I heal Piper?'

'I don't know, but we need to put a stop to the warlock if he has power that even elders and whitelighters can't heal a person from,'

'If you're going then I'm coming with you,' Piper said

'No,' Paige ordered 'You rest, Aidan and I will take care of the warlock,'

'Oh really!' Piper said with her eyebrows raised and a smirk on her lips 'If you guys want to be alone, that's fine with me,'

Aidan wore a confused look on his face while Paige shot a big sister a look that could kill.

'C'mon, lets go get that warlock!' she said enthusiastically, she orbed out and left Aidan behind, he followed her by 'splashing' out**………**

Gart was lying against the wall in his cavern, trying to tend to the wound that the potion had given him; he looked fearful as he saw orbs and water appear in front of him. Paige and Aidan materialised in front of him and advanced.

'You ready to die this time?' Paige said darkly

He sneered 'At least I can take pleasure in the fact that I killed your sister, I felt her soul die, so don't lie to me,'

It was Aidan's turn to speak 'You should get your spidey sense checked out, because her sister is alive and well,' he then shot out his hand, and water came rushing out, blasting Gart against a wall, and vanquishing him.

The two shared a smile, but their happiness was interrupted by the sound of clapping echoing behind them. Paige turned round, and was shocked to see herself and Piper!

'Very impressive,' Piper said dryly.

'Who the hell are you?' Paige demanded

'Someone who's… well, how should I put this… oh yeah! We're going to kill you!' her counterpart answered before a darklighter crossbow appeared in her hand. Piper raised her hands to attack, but Aidan, put up his hand, and a wall of water absorbed the arrow and explosion. He quickly wrapped his arms around Paige and splashed them out of the underworld**………**

They appeared on the Golden Gate Bridge, Paige was still in her saviour's grasp, he let her go and she walked away slightly and broke the silence.

'What were they?' Paige asked.

'I think they were you, well, the evil forms of you, I'm not sure,' he said

'Well, I'm glad I didn't go after the warlock alone, that's twice you've saved me,' Paige smiled.

Aidan smiled back, he was about to say something, but Paige unknowingly cut him off.

'I want to ask you something; why did you come to save me? I mean, you don't even know me,'

'I don't know, I was up here sorting out my thoughts, I do that a lot, and I heard your spirit call out to me, and I couldn't let you die now could I?'

They both laughed at this comment, Aidan then spoke again.

'Paige, I know this might seem I bit inappropriate, but… would you like to go out sometime?'

She was slightly taken aback by this surprise, but then she smiled 'I'd like that,' she answered, she was going to orb out but then stopped 'How will I find you?'

He smiled kindly at her 'Just holler,'

She smiled back and orbed out, leaving Aidan alone to sort out his thoughts…

Well? Was it good? You all though I'd forgotten about the counterparts, didn't you! I thought I'd give Paige a love interest, so there he is! Give me your opinions!

Chapter 9 'Curiosity Nearly Killed The Cat' is a Mutant X Chapter, but don't worry! I'll come back to Piper and Paige soon!


	9. Curiosity Nearly Killed The Cat

Hi! Thanks for all your reviews! I'll went back to Phoebe in this chapter, but more Piper and Paige chapters will come along.

**Curiosity Nearly Killed The Cat**

It was beginning to darken over the busy street, but there had been one car had hadn't moved all day, neither had it's inhabitants.

Lexa and Phoebe had been sitting in the car for five hours; they had been watching this guy all day and were not about to let him escape again. Their mark, Rod Jamison, had apparently been smuggling dangerous drugs into the country, drugs that were not dangerous to humans, but to mutants and witches, they were lethal.

Phoebe sat in the driving seat, leaning her elbow on the window so that her hand could prop up her head, she looked out, watching the rain fall and water droplets trickle down the glass. Lexa had her feet up on the dashboard, she was popping bubblegum and had her arms crossed. Phoebe broke the long silence between them

'Lexa stop being so impatient!'

Her teammate was surprised by this random comment 'But I didn't say anything!'

Phoebe turned to look at her 'Yeah, I know, but I can sense your impatience and it's driving me crazy!'

There was another short silence, and then Lexa spoke.

'Well, now that you mention it, what's taking so long? How can someone spend five hours in some deadbeat bar?'

'I don't know but he's still there, I can sense him,' Phoebe glared at the bar; Lexa assumed that her partner was using her powers to find their guy.

Suddenly, one of the back doors swung open, letting in the rain and the cold, but the door was quickly closed after Brennan had got inside.

'Alright ladies, I got food!' he said with triumph. Both girls turned round and glared at him.

'Phoebe and I have been sitting in this car for five hours, our legs have went to sleep, you tell us that it's imperative for you to leave the car, and you come back with food!?'

'She's right Brennan, what if our guy had left the bar while you where away satisfying your never ending hunger?'

Brennan's eyes widened 'Wow! You guys really don't like being cooped up now do you?' he said as he brought a sub out of the bag.

Phoebe looked at the bag curiously 'You wouldn't happen to have a cracker in there would you?'

Brennan smiled at her and reached into the bag, but Lexa interrupted

'Feeding time's over you guys, there's our man,'

Jamison was a short, balding man he was accompanied by two burly looking guys; they left the bar and began walking into an adjoining alley.

'Alright Jess, we're on the move,' Phoebe spoke into the comlink ring that Jesse had given her, all of Mutant X had one, and as long as she was wearing it, all four of them would always be in contact.

'It's about time,' Jesse's voice echoed in her head 'Be careful you guys,'

'Aren't we always?' Lexa said sarcastically.

The three of them left the car, and ran across to the other side of the road to follow their target.

They saw Jamison and his bodyguards at the end of the alley; they were getting into a car when Phoebe, Lexa and Brennan stopped him.

'Wanna play?' Lexa said to the bodyguards as lasers ignited from the tips of her fingers. Something then happened that surprised them, one of the guards threw out his arm, sending Lexa and Phoebe into a puddle.

'Alright, it's my turn,' Brennan said, he was about to use his power, but then realised that the rain had soaked him, and if he were to use his power he would get shocked too.

Instead, he ran towards them, but the other guard came at him in incredible speed, and punched him in the gut as quick as lightning. The speed of this punch sent Brennan flying into Lexa and Phoebe, who fell into the puddle again after Brennan's body pushed them down.

The members of Mutant X lay in the puddle, slightly stunned by these mutants, but they got an even bigger surprise, when someone jumped down as if they came from the sky and started to lay into the bodyguards.

After this happened, the car sped away, with their mark in it.

The person came up to them, it was a woman, and she addressed them.

'I leave you guys alone for two seconds and look what happens,' she laughed looking at the pathetic bundle of people in the puddle, she put out her hand and pulled Lexa up, who wore a shocked look on her face.

'Shal…'

Jesse looked at his drenched comrades chuckled 'Get caught in the rain did you?'

'More like got thrown into a puddle… twice!' Phoebe answered

'Yeah Jess, why didn't you tell us this guy had mutant bodyguards?' Lexa demanded.

He wore a surprised look 'I didn't know, what were they're powers?' he began typing.

'One was telekinetic and the other had super speed,' Brennan informed him.

'Yeah if it hadn't been for Shalimar, we'd be finished right now,' Lexa said.

The team had returned to Sanctuary, they were soaked to the skin and in a bad mood, you could hear the thunder and lightning, even from inside the rock, the three of them walked off to their rooms, leaving trails of water in their wake.

After Phoebe had had a shower and changed, she came out of her room and saw Jesse and Shalimar laughing with each other, Phoebe looked at them intriguingly, she saw Brennan training in the dojo, and decided to join him.

She made her entrance 'Hey,'

He turned to look at her and smiled 'Hey,'

Knowing that Brennan would see right through her, she just decided to ask her question.

'So, what's the deal with Shalimar?'

'No deal, she used to be a part of Mutant X, she's an old friend,'

'Why did she leave?'

'She's a feline feral, so basically she got bored of being in a cave, so she went to find adventure,'

'I saw her with Jesse, have those two ever… you know…' She trailed off.

'Hooked up?' Brennan finished.

'Well… yeah, for lack of a better term,'

'No way, Shal and Jess are like brother and sister, they've known each other for most of their lives,'

'Oh, what about you?'

'What? Me and Shalimar?'

'Yeah,'

'Mmmmm… nah, we're just friends, although we flirt with each other, just for fun,'

'Oh! Okay,' Phoebe felt a wave of relieve go through her, although she wasn't sure why, was she jealous?

Brennan stopped punching the bag and looked at her with his eyes narrowed, he then smirked at her 'Are we getting a little bit of the green eyed witch, Phoebe?'

'What!?' she looked down at her feet, with the blood rushing to her face 'Of course not! Why would you even think!?… I gotta go!' she jogged out of the dojo, leaving Brennan to chuckle to himself and continue to hit and punching bag**………**

Phoebe was sitting in her room in front of the computer screen, it was late, she was typing up her column, as it still had to be done. There was a knock at her door, she told whoever it was to come in.

Shalimar's head peered round the door 'Mind if we talk for a minute?'

'Not at all, come in,' she offered, the blond entered and leaned against the desk.

'So, how long have you been her?'

'Around three months,'

'Cool, well I just came in to say _this_!'

Shalimar slammed her hand down on Phoebe's wrist, thanks to her powers; she was able to almost crush what was under her hand. Phoebe was gasping in pain; the blond brought her face closer and whispered

'You either leave of your own free will, or you won't leave alive, you understand me?'

Phoebe couldn't even speak, the pain on her wrist was unbearable, she managed to fire a psionic blast at her attacker. Shalimar recoiled, the blast had unexpected results, the coldness that had been in her eyes was gone and was replaced by regret

'Help…me…' she cried out, which left Phoebe even more confused, then she saw a spirit rise out of her body, but only for a brief second, it returned, along with Shalimar's evil attitude.

Shalimar's eyes flashed a golden colour; she was about to pounce when Jesse, Lexa and Brennan came rushing through the door.

'We heard screaming, what's going on?' Jesse asked calmly

'Jesse!' Shalimar had put on a hurt voice, she ran towards him 'She attacked me! I came in here to talk and she hit me with her psychic powers!'

'What!?' Phoebe exclaimed 'You're the one who came in here and tried to break my wrist! What I did was in self defence!'

'Pheebs, tell us the truth,' Lexa ordered

'I am! She's the one who's lying!'

Lexa and Jesse gave her disapproving looks, but Brennan jumped to her defence.

'C'mon you guys, we all know that Shal can more than take care of herself, and we all know that Phoebe isn't the sort of person to attack someone for no good reason,'

'Brennan I can't believe you're siding with her on this! After all we've been through!' Shalimar walked out of the room with Jesse and Lexa not far behind.

'Brennan… you believe me… don't you?' pleaded Phoebe

Brennan sighed 'I'm not taking anyone's side until I have the facts,' he answered before taking his leave.

Phoebe stood in the middle of her room, she was now determined to stop Shalimar, or whatever was possessing her, she couldn't write, thanks to her injured wrist, so she sat down at her computer and started typing a dispossessing spell**………**

Phoebe tried to get some sleep, but every time she was about to nod off, she would see the gold glint that Shalimar had had in her eyes. She turned over in her bed again, she heard a creak, _probably just the wind_ she thought, but then it hit her, how could she hear the wind when she was inside a mountain?

She heard the creaking noise again, it sounded as if it was closer, this couldn't be a coincidence, and she decided that if she heard again, she would investigate. But she didn't hear it again, but she saw two golden orbs looking at her in the dark!

Phoebe screamed and quickly turned the light on, she heard running footsteps and saw that her door was swinging, as if someone had opened it in a hurry.

Her partners came running in again after hearing the scream, they saw Phoebe sitting up in bed with the light on, and her hand was clutching her chest.

'What happened this time?' Lexa said in between a yawn.

'You guys, I swear, she was in here, I turned on the light and I heard someone running and my door was open, I think she's after me!'

'What's going on?'

Shalimar appeared at the door, looking as if she had just woken up. She stood in the doorway rubbing her eyes, the others looked at Phoebe with a disapproving look.

'So you're saying that Shalimar managed to run back to her room before we got here?' a very tired Jesse asked.

Phoebe nodded her head frantically

'Phoebe, either your imagination is playing tricks on you, or you're just trying to get back at Shal,' Jesse answered

Phoebe looked at her friends with her mouth wide open, how could they sell her out so easily? Tears began to run down her face as everyone left her room. As a last attempt, she grabbed Brennan's arm.

'Brennan you have to believe me! She's trying to kill me,' she said in a whisper.

Brennan bent down and kissed her on the forehead, 'Just try and get some sleep,' he told her. Shalimar was still standing in the doorway after everyone left, she smirked and her eyes glowed again before she walked off, leaving Phoebe feeling betrayed and abandoned**………**

It was morning. Phoebe sighed gratefully, she had made it through the night, after her second encounter, she had locked her bedroom door, just so if Shalimar tried to attack her in the dark again, she could say to her team mates that she had locked the door and that it must've been tampered with.

Speaking of her teammates, she came out of her room, and wasn't exactly given a warm welcome, Lexa and Jesse didn't even register her existence and Brennan was avoiding her gaze.

She had the dispossessing spell in the back pocket of her jeans, her plan was to cure Shalimar, and prove them all wrong.

Phoebe found her target in the dojo, ruthlessly hitting a punching bag; she saw Phoebe and smirked 'Like my little visit last night?'

Phoebe sneered 'I knew it,'

Shalimar stopped punching 'So, when are you leaving?'

Phoebe laughed 'You think I'm gonna be driven out of here by a possessed cat?' she fired a powerful psionic blast at Shalimar, hoping it would give her enough time to say the spell. The blond fell to the ground and the spirit rose up, Phoebe quickly brought out the spell, and she had used it before, so she knew it worked

'Host's soul,

Reject the poison essence,

Let loves light,

End this-,'

She didn't have enough time finish the spell, and spirit went back into Shalimar and called out for the others. They swarmed around Shalimar and helped her up.

'Alright Phoebe, you can't lie you way out of this one! You standing with a spell in your hand is pretty suspicious!' Lexa said

'Uh… Shal? Why don't you go out for a while so we can talk to Phoebe?'

Shalimar nodded and smirked as she passed Phoebe on her way to the garage.

'We need to talk…'**………**

'What!?' Phoebe shrieked

'We're just saying that maybe you should take a while to sort yourself out,' Jesse replied calmly.

'The hell you are! You're just trying to make 'we're kicking you out' sound nicer!'

She walked over to the chair, picked up her brown suede coat and stormed off to the garage, Brennan went after her.

'Phoebe…'

'Just don't Brennan! I just hope you realise that I'm right before it's too late, because even though you're doing this to me, I still consider you guys my friends!' she ran to the garage sobbing**………**

After hours of wondering around Phoebe didn't even realise where she was, she didn't even care, she had nowhere to go, her friends hated her and she was lost. The middle Charmed One came to her senses and looked at her surroundings, she was in an alleyway, and there were a lot of cats. Phoebe thought this was strange, but was suddenly overwhelmed by her feeling of dread as she turned around.

'Looks like you left after all,'**………**

Brennan was sitting at the computers; he had just made a breakthrough and was instantly worried about Phoebe.

'Oh my God! Jess! Lex! Get the hell in here now!' he shouted

'What is it?' Lexa asked as she walked in with Jesse

'Take a look at this!' he pointed towards and screen and his teammates watched in horror.

It was security camera footage from Phoebe's room, they heard Shalimar's initial threat, and saw her crush Phoebe's wrist,but Brennan had done more digging, he had the footage from the previous night, it was in infa-red so that they could see clearly that Shalimar was prowling around Phoebe's bed and they also saw her rush out when the light was switched on.

'Oh God…' Lexa said breathlessly

'Phoebe was telling the truth…' Jesse said to himself

'Look, I know you guys feel guilty, but we don't have time! If Shal is after Phoebe, then we have to find her now!'**………**

_I can't win_

Phoebe was currently levitating high enough so that Shalimar couldn't reach her, but she knew that it was only a matter of time before the feral climbed up the building and caught her. She was right, Shalimar began jumping from one wall to opposite, slowly getting higher and higher. Phoebe wasn't prepared for the speed that the blond woman came at her; they both fell from the air, but slowed their descent with their respective powers. The feral came at Phoebe again; all she could do was block the seemingly unlimited punches and kicks that were coming at her. She was caught by surprise when Shalimar got a hard punch to her face and swept her legs that she fell

'Time to end this…' Shalimar whispered at she brandished an atheme in Phoebe's face.

_That's it_, Phoebe thought, she fired a psionic blast which sent her attacker flying into a dumpster. She flipped up from the ground, used her levitating power to run up the wall, and kick a shocked Shalimar hard in the face, knocking her out.

Jesse, Lexa and Brennan ran round the corner at that time, they saw Phoebe standing over an unconscious Shal. All three of them began to think that it was Phoebe who was trying to kill Shalimar, until they saw the spirit rise up from the body. Phoebe hurriedly tried to remember the spell so she could kill it, she remembered half of it, but she needed more time. The spirit began to go back into the body when a laser and a lightning bolt hit it, Phoebe looked behind her to see her friends helping her, and she remembered the rest of the spell.

'Host's soul,

Reject the poison essence,

Let loves light,

End this cruel possession,'

The spirit began to writhe and try to escape, put held in place by Brennan and Lexa. It finally blew up, leaving Phoebe standing shakily, looking at her team; Lexa walked forward and hugged her.

'I'm sorry,'**………**

Phoebe was once again, sitting in her room while the others talked to Shalimar, she was telling them she remembered, Phoebe had decided to stay out of the conversation as she didn't really know Shal, and she hadn't technically met her! Besides, it's not as if she could get up, she had ended up with a sprained ankle because of her final move in the fight and not to mention a big ugly black eye, which she had an icepack on at the moment.

There a knock at the door, she was hesitant to invite the person in, even though she was guilty to admit it, she was angry with her friends. She knew that she would have done the same thing though, if she had the choice of trusting her sisters or someone she'd known for three months, she knew who she would choose.

She sighed 'Come in,'

The door opened, it was Shalimar, Phoebe took a deep breath,

'Can we talk for a minute?'

'Sure, as long as you don't try to kill me this time,' Phoebe retorted, but then she stopped 'Sorry, that was a bit unfair,'

'No, no, it's alright, I deserve it,' There was a silence between them, Phoebe then asked her a question

'How did you end up possessed?'

Shalimar looked surprised 'Wow! You don't waste anytime, do you? I was checking out some cave, I had been travelling a lot and I had stopped at a little village in the mountains,' Shalimar looked distant, she was obviously remembering this village 'Anyway, there had been reports of something dangerous in the cave, being an ex-Mutant X member, I couldn't let these people live in fear, so I went to check it out…'

'And?'

'When I told this story to the guys, I left a bit out, I thought you should be the one to tell them, all I told them was that the spirit in the cave possessed me, that was it,'

'What did you leave out?'

'I left out what the spirit said to me, he told me that the new member to Mutant X was a Charmed One,' Phoebe's heart skipped a beat 'and that his mission was to get rid of her and make her leave, and I'm guessing by the look on your face that you haven't told the others about your true magical identity?'

Phoebe avoided her gaze, she had been found out, she knew that Shal was waiting on an answer so she gave her one.

'I haven't told them, I didn't want it to change things,' she answered guiltily.

'Yeah well, I suggest you tell them soon, because they're getting suspicious of you power and I think it's better they hear it from you than finding out themselves,'

Phoebe smiled 'I think I'll take your advice,'

Shalimar began walking out of the room, but she stopped and smiled.

By the way, you have my blessing to stay here,'

'Really?'

'Yeah! Anyone who can beat me in a fight, is worthy!' she answered and then left the room**………**

It was quite late now, Phoebe was just e-mailing her column and there was a creak at the door. She turned round to see Lexa, Jesse and Brennan standing in the doorway with guilt written all over their faces.

'You here to apologise?' she asked coldly

Jesse and Lexa shared a look 'Yes, we are sorry, all of us, are gonna forgive us or make us grovel?' Lexa asked

Phoebe maintained her stony glare, but then it softened as she laughed.

'Of course! As long as you guys are okay with me sticking around,'

Jesse laughed 'Fine, we'll put up with you,'

After fives minutes of laughing and apologies, Jesse and Lexa left the room, but Brennan stayed behind.

'Let me have a look at your injuries,'

Phoebe laughed 'What are you, a doctor?'

'Actually, yes,' she gave him a strange look 'What? I gotta have something to fall back on if saving the world gets boring!'

He took her cheeks in his hands and manoeuvred her head for better light 'Hmmm, the swelling around your eye seems to have stopped, although it's gonna be a shiner in the morning, let's look at your ankle,'

Phoebe decided to tell him, he would probably be the one to understand the most, so she began

'Brennan? You know how you were asking about my powers and my family?'

'Uh huh,' he knelt down to undo the bandage on her ankle.

'Well… the reason I'm so strong is that… well… I'm a Charmed One.

He stopped unwrapping the bandage and looked at her.

'What?'**………**

Okay! That was the first MX chapter in a while, I hoped to liked it!

Chapter 10 'Sibling Rivalry' will be up soon!


	10. Sibling Rivalry

Hey there! Hope you liked the MX Chapter, in my defence I wasn't feeling well at the time so it might not have been my best work.

This chapter begins straight after Chapter 9. Enjoy!

**Sibling Rivalry**

'What?'

'Are you saying 'what' because you didn't hear me, or because you're really shocked?'

'Door number 2,'

'Thought so,' Phoebe trailed off.

She guessed by the stormy look on his face that he wasn't pleased with the news.

'A Charmed One… you mean the whole 'power of three' thing and the prophecy of you being the most powerful witches of all time?'

'Yeah,' she felt that was all she could stay.

'And the reason that the ghost that possessed Shalimar was after you, it's because you're a Charmed One?'

Phoebe could only nod her head.

'And the reason why all those demons were after you and Lexa at the diner, it's because you're a Charmed One?'

Phoebe nodded her head again. There was a long silence.

'So… what do you think?'

'What do I think? Hmmmmmm… let's see, so far, because of your magical identity, you've had one of my friends possessed, and put another in mortal danger, you're the telepath, Phoebe, why don't you tell me?' his voiced was raised now.

'You don't need to be an empath or a telepath to know you're pretty pissed,' Phoebe retorted.

'Well can you blame me? You are a Charmed One! Evils will be coming after you soon, evils that you probably won't be able to fight off without your sisters! You've put everyone in this cave in serious danger!'

This angered Phoebe, she stood up as best she could with a sprained ankle.

'Uh… excuse me? You guys put yourselves in danger by living in this cave and trying to take out the bad guys! If anything I've saved your butts!'

'That's different! We have the power to take out the _human_ bad guys, not the demonic ones! Jesse and Lexa have only fought a couple of demons in their lifetime, but you and I have fought a lot more than that, and I'm guessing you've killed more demons than me!'

'Yeah I probably have! Which means I know how to deal with the odd demon that will come after me! What do you think made me such a powerful witch, huh? Maybe it's because of the massive amount of experience I've had!'

'Which is exactly my point,' Brennan began as he went to the door 'I hope that that experience is enough to fight off the dangers that you've brought to this team!' he left, slamming the door behind him, and leaving a raging Phoebe inside.

* * *

3 days later 

Phoebe was in the dojo, her ankle had healed up and she was using her health to her best advantage by beating the crap out of a punching bag. She was still angry at Brennan's reaction, how could he of acted in such I pigheaded way? Every time she though about it, it just made her even more annoyed.

Lexa entered the room, just in time to see Phoebe levitate and forcefully kick the punching bag, making it fall off the ceiling and land a few feet away.

'Uh… Pheebs, are you OK? It's just that, that's the second punching bag you've separated from the ceiling, and it's usually not like you to be so… violent,'

'I'm fine Lexa…' Phoebe answered as she pressed a button on the wall to make another punching bag appear from the ceiling.

'OK, well, if you get tired of wailing on a piece of leather and foam, you now where to find me,'

This comment was completely ignored, so Lexa decided to leave, but not without one last look at her teammate.

Lexa found Brennan at the computers, he was looking at Phoebe's file, it had everything in it, her background, her job, her family, anything you wanted to know about Phoebe Haliwell, you would find it in here.

'What are you doing?' Lexa asked

'I'm updating the powers section on Phoebe's file,'

'I think we have everything, let's see, levitation, telepathy, empathy, and the ability to create and use a psionic blast, what do you think we're missing?'

'Telekinesis, Temporal Stasis or Clairvoyance, she has one of these powers, I'm just trying to figure out what one,'

'What makes you think she has one of them?'

Brennan looked at her; he looked as if he was going to tell her something, but then stopped 'Nothing, never mind…' he shut down the program and walked away. This left Lexa even more confused, something had happened between her two teammates, something big.

* * *

'Alright guys! I got something!' Jesse said over the comlinks, and in seconds, the four of them were around the computers. 

'We have a magical flamethrower on our hands,' he began to type furiously on the keyboard 'The police released his mug shot an hour ago, here he is,' a picture appeared on the screen; Brennan's face went completely white.

'Wow, if he wasn't going around frying people to death, I'd definitely consider him,' Lexa quipped. Phoebe laughed dryly at her friend's comment.

'So what do you say Lex? Me and you taking this hunky killer on?' Phoebe asked.

'No,'

They turned round to see Brennan standing with his arms crossed and a stern look on his face.

'I'm going, alone,'

He walked away from the others and made his way to the garage. Phoebe was still angry with him, he had shouted at her for being a Charmed One, and now he was trying to take on fire throwing killers all by himself! She wasn't going let him get away with it. She ran after him.

'Uh… where does it say that what you say goes?' Phoebe asked him sarcastically.

He didn't even turn round to look at her. 'Just stay out of it, Phoebe,' from what she could see, he was doing something with his hands, and he then dropped his comlink on the ground and walked off**………**

'Are you sure we should be doing this?' Lexa asked, after Brennan's leaving, Phoebe had jumped into the Helix to follow him, but then she remembered that she wasn't a very skilled pilot, so Lexa had come along to help incase so lost control.

'Yes, if he's going to get himself killed, he needs me to be there so I can say 'I told you so','

'Are you sure you're not doing this because you're worried about him?'

'Well… yeah, of course, but mostly I just want to prove I'm right!' Phoebe said triumphantly

'God, you're made for each other, both stubborn as hell…' Lexa whispered under her breath.

'I heard that! Hey, look! His car's stopped,' Phoebe looked at the screen, they had been tracking Brennan's car in the Helix 'Okay. Time to land,'

'You want me to take over?'

'No thanks, I need to learn how to do this,' Phoebe replied kindly.

Lexa and Phoebe walked down to the bottom of the building that they had landed on, they saw Brennan's car on the other side of the road and walked over, only find it empty.

'Argh! He knew we'd try and track him!' Lexa hit Brennan's precious 78' Camaro on the hood in frustration.

'Calm down, I came prepared in the likely event that he gave us the slip,' Phoebe pulled out a map of the city and a crystal on a string.

'You call a map and a rock being prepared?' Lexa mocked

Phoebe looked at her 'Remind me when this is all over to teach you and Jesse about witchcraft, just because you can't cast spells it doesn't mean that you can't do other things,'

'Example?'

'Scrying is what I'm doing right now, do you have Brennan's comring?'

'Uh… yeah, here you go,' she pulled out the silver ring and handed it over. Phoebe tied the ring on to the string that was on the crystal; she then started spinning the crystal over the map.

'You can use scrying to find anyone, all you need is a map, a magic crystal, a piece of string, and a belonging of the person you're looking for. Now, personally, I use an amethyst crystal, as I think they're more accurate, but a normal crystal works too,'

'Hmmm… looks like I just had my first lesson in Witchcraft 101,'

Phoebe looked down at the map as the crystal tugged down and landed on a spot on the map.

'Got'm,'

* * *

A woman running along dark deserted street, she looked behind her, looking for any sign of her chaser. Her apartment was just one block away, just decided to go through an alleyway for a shortcut, that was a big mistake. 

'Miss me?' her assailant jumped from the building, she hoped that the impact would kill him, but he put out his hand, it was if he had some sort of rocket booster attached to his hand because smoke began to emit from his hand as he lowered down to trap his victim.

'How do you wanna be done? Medium, or rare?' he smirked as fire began to fly from his hand. The girl screamed, but before the flames could reach her, someone tackled her from behind and knocked her to the ground, out of harms way.

'Get out of here!' the man shouted, it was Brennan.

The girl stumbled as she got up, but away as fast as she could.

'Well, well, well, I knew if I killed enough people I'd get your attention,' the man said.

'What are you doing Ryan!? Why are you killing people who aren't even involved?' Brennan shouted.

'It's my nature, and it's also because of my nature that I've spent 20 years locked in a magical seal!'

'Why are you even here? Shouldn't you be skulking about with your old demon friends!?'

'First of all, I lurk, I don't skulk and second of all, I'm here for revenge! It's because of you that my soul has been separate from my body for the last two decades!'

Brennan laughed 'You call what you have a soul? I think a more accurate term for it is a black hole where all your humanity was destroyed,'

Ryan growled 'Enough of this!' he shot fire from both hands, which was met in the middle by Brennan's electricity. This caused a small explosion, which sent both men back a few feet. Brennan began to charge up his power of jet propulsion, he would take this battle into the air. Ryan did this also, with his rocket booster power; they both lifted off and prepared to fight.

Phoebe and Lexa were walking along the street, they had just saw a girl who was running in the other direction, looking very scared, but after they saw the explosion, they knew exactly where Brennan was.

The fight raged on, both had ran out of the energy needed to stay in the air, so they reduced to shooting random blasts of fire and electricity and each other. Ryan fired a flame just as Brennan was coming out of his hiding place, and it hit his left shoulder, leaving him weakened and burned. The girls ran round the corner, only to see Brennan slouched against a wall, with the killer standing over him, ready to flame him.

'Hey!' Phoebe grabbed his attention and shot him with a powerful psi-blast, which made him fly back into a nearby pile of garbage. Lexa slowly walked up to the man

'Nighty, night,' she prepared to fire her lasers and finish off the target

'No!' Brennan screamed, he fired a bolt of electricity, which made Lexa crash into the wall. Ryan took full advantage of this; he stood up and brought a potion out from his pocket, and threw it at Phoebe. It seemed to be a sleeping potion or a potion to knock someone out because Phoebe hit the ground as soon as the potion hit her.

Ryan ran over to her limp body, slung her over his shoulder and ran off. As a last ditch attempt, Brennan threw a lightning bolt at his attacker, but Ryan put up his hand and a wall of fire blocked the electricity from breaking through.

When the wall disappeared, Ryan was gone, along with Phoebe, and Lexa was lying on the ground unconscious, that was all Brennan remembered before he blacked out.

* * *

Brennan woke up, he could feel a sting on his left shoulder and he had a splitting headache. He opened his eyes and could see Jesse and Lexa looking at him. 

'Can I kick his ass now?' Lexa asked Jesse, she obviously furious.

'Sorry, not until we get the full story,' Lexa pouted at his answer 'Although if you keep up with that cute little pout, I might change my mind,'

Lexa's glared at him, and her face went back to being stone. Jesse laughed at her reaction.

'Ugh… Jess? Where am I?'

'You're home buddy!'

'What happened? …' he suddenly remembered and shot up from the chair in the lab 'Phoebe! Where is she!?'

His comrades exchanged dark looks with each other 'Man, the killer took her, she might be…'

'No, trust me, she isn't, have you tried-,'

'Uh… Hello! Did you forget what you did back there Sparky?'

'Yeah Bren, why did you shoot her? Were you just off target because of the shoulder?'

'No, I meant to hit her,'

Both of them were stunned at this answer 'Why?' Jesse pleaded

'I couldn't let you kill him Lex,' Brennan replied 'My plan was to just separate his body and soul again,'

'Again? What do you mean?'

'I did it once before when I was 11, and the reason I did this alone is because… Ryan's my brother,'.

* * *

Phoebe slowly came to, she immediately tried to move, but she couldn't, as she opened her eyes she saw that she was being held in place by chains. There was a piece of tape over her mouth also. A figure approached her, at first she thought it was Brennan, but she was sorely mistaken. 

'Enjoy your nap?'**

* * *

**

'He's your brother?' Lexa said slowly, hoping that she had not heard him correctly.

'Yeah, he's the oldest in my family, he's 3 years older than me,'

'How… Why… Why is he here?' Jesse asked.

'I'll you guys the full story, but first, what are you doing to find Phoebe?'

The surprised duo came back to their senses 'Oh! We've got the computers scanning everywhere, we've got all lines of communication open and the computer is collecting a list of likely places where he might be holding her, so, tell us the truth. Now,' Jesse said.

Brennan got up from the chair and sighed as he began 'I've got a big family, I'm the second oldest out of 5, we're a big target for demons, but my Mom keeps the place cloaked, it's out in the country. We also take in magical orphans, Mom looks after them until it's time for them to go to Magic School,'

'Sounds like a nice place,' Lexa thought out loud.

'It is, me and my sisters loved it there, we all worked on the farm, so we could keep living in that beautiful place, we may have been working but it was fun,' he eyes glazed over and he began to smile 'we used to have horse races, we each had our favourite at the ranch,' he smiled again, but then stopped 'Sorry, getting caught up in better days… anyway, as you guys know, ever since my oldest ancestor, Brendan Stewart, my family's powers have come from the elements, you know, wind, water, ice, earth-,'

'Electricity,' Jesse added with a smile.

Brennan laughed 'Yeah, well, in the entire 300 year life of my line, no one has ever had powers that came from fire, until my big brother,' he walked over to a nearby table 'We never knew why, but his powers slowly corrupted him, turned him evil, until the day he chose his side, he revealed our home to demons,'

Lexa gasped and Jesse looked up from his shoes when their friend said this.

'My Dad, he was a mortal, he couldn't defend himself when the demons attacked, and he was killed,' Brennan's voice was shaky, this obviously was hard to say 'After my three sisters and I helped my Mom defeat the demons, she was able to use a special potion to split Ryan into two parts, my sisters and I opened a portal with our combined powers and sent his body through, when it was gone, I used my powers to trap his consciousness in an electrical field and seal him away…,' Brennan trailed off, he was done sharing, they had get back to business, his friends sensed his desire to do this and started off

'Alright, well somehow, he's broke free and he's got our friend, so lets go kick some ass,' Lexa proclaimed.

'But we need to find Phoebe first, she's our main priority,' Jesse said

'Ryan will be with her, so we find Phoebe, we find Ryan,' Brennan stated

'Well, the computers are coming up with nothing so I don't how we're gonna… wait,' Lexa suddenly smiled 'Jess? Can you get me a map, a crystal and something belongs to Phoebe?'.

* * *

_Why am I always the one getting hurt?_ Phoebe thought, this guy had been channelling heat though his hands, and was burning every part of her clothing, along with her top layer of skin, he had also taken a liking to cutting her with a rusty knife, the cuts were shallow and bled freely, if her friends didn't come through that door soon, she wouldn't last much longer. It had went on for hours, he kept burning her, and just when she thought it was over, he would do something else, like lick her burnt flesh and begin again. 

'Hmmmm… I can see why my little brother's into you, you're sexy and you're not a screamer, but I bet you look even better with you top off!'

Phoebe's eyes widened, she closed her eyes in horror as he started to unbutton the burnt remains of her blouse, she felt so vulnerable in just her bra. She had given up on screaming half an hour ago, she was only wasting her breath as the piece of tape over her mouth prevented her from saying anything. She felt his hand on her stomach, it was like having an iron pressed against her, he removed the tape from her mouth and kissed her forcefully.

'Don't die yet baby, I can't wait to see what you look like without those jeans,' he whispered in her ear, he ran his tongue across her ear and began to pull down her jeans. For the first time since this had started, Phoebe began to cry, she was going to be raped and killed and there nothing she could do about it.

Just as she thought that, the door burst open and there was a flash of bright light. After the light had faded she only saw it for a few seconds, she saw Lexa cutting the chains around her wrist with her powers, and Jesse was phasing her feet so that the chains on her ankles fell off. She then saw Brennan, filled with anger, blasting Ryan with more electricity than she'd ever seen him create. Ryan landed on the floor, crumpled and dead, still smoking from the unbelievable voltage that had killed him.

The last thing Phoebe remembered was Brennan gently picking her up in his arms and him saying to her

'It's gonna be okay, I have you now, I'm so sorry,' he sounded like he was crying, that was all she remembered, before she blacked out.

* * *

It was a dark atmosphere in Sanctuary that night, the healing machines had been working for hours, slowly repairing cut skin and burnt flesh. Brennan hadn't left Phoebe's side at all, a concerned Jesse had told him to go to bed a couple of times but he had said that he was fine and that he didn't want to leave her alone, in case she woke up. 

He suddenly felt so guilty, three days ago, he had yelled at her for bringing dangers to the team, but it turned out that he had been the one to bring the danger, Phoebe had ended up here, fighting for her life, because of him.

* * *

I didn't intend on writing something like _that_! But there you go. I have a plan for Phoebe's story but I need some time to pass at MX for it to work, so… I'm going back to Piper and Paige!

Chapter 11 'Explosion Erosion' will be up soon!


	11. Explosion Erosion

Hi! As PiPeRAnGeL39 said, the last chapter was a little brutal, but I do have a way I'm going with that storyline, but I'm going to Piper and Paige, just so some time can pass (This chapter has a lighter mood!)

**Explosion Erosion**

'I can't believe I'm the one being stuck with this!' Piper muttered to herself, Paige and Aidan had gone to Magic School to do 'research' on the counterparts. Although Piper knew that they just wanted to be alone. If came up with any good info in the process, it would just be luck.

This meant that Piper was left with the dirty job, apparently there was a manticore hiding out around this part of the city, Piper been sitting in her car for two hours, waiting for it to show. She yawned, if this demon didn't show up soon, she would go home.

But Piper wasn't that lucky, she saw the demon and the edge of the parking lot. She sighed and got out the car, the manticore sensed her and began sniffing the air. It spotted her standing in the middle of the parking lot and ran towards her.

'Bye, bye!' Piper threw the potion at the creature, but unfortunately, it didn't die instantly, it gave the demon a small injury on its chest.

'That should have worked…' Piper squeaked to herself.

The demon conjured a fireball, which confused Piper, manticores don't have that power. It threw the ball in its hand, Piper put up her hands and froze it, but the freeze didn't even last a second! The fireball kept coming and Piper had to duck out of the way, what was wrong with her powers?

'Alright ugly, time to put you down!' she focused her energy into her hands and tried to blow him up, but only a spark appeared!

_What the hell is going on with my powers!?_ Piper thought, the creature them screamed at her, releasing some sort of energy pulse from its mouth, that settled it, Piper thought as she got up from the ground, this isn't a manticore. It ran at her again, Piper tried to mass out to avoid being injured, but the mass didn't even hold until the demon was right next to her. It hit her across the jaw with its hand and sent her flying into a nearby car.

Piper decided it was time to call for reinforcements 'Paige! Orb you ass here now and help goddammit!'

Her sister appeared next to her in a glow of orbs 'Piper what the hell is going… on!' Paige noticed the demon is it screamed again, she pushed Piper and herself to safety before the pulse hit.

'Okay, that thing isn't a Manticore!' Paige stated

'Gee, ya think!?' Piper snapped.

'Hey! Don't yell at me sister! I came to save your ass!' Paige stood up from her crouching position behind a car and telekinetically threw the demon into another car's front window.

She turned to her sister 'Go get Aidan! Tell him I need his help! Magic School!' Paige gestured at Piper and she orbed to Magic School. She came from behind the car to continue the fight.

The demon fired another energy pulse at her, but she deflected it and sent it back at him. The demon was prepared this time, he screamed another energy pulse out to meet the rebounding one, and the result of the two pulses hitting off each other was a wave, which sent both combatants flying back.

This didn't last for long though, as both were on their feet again. The creature threw a fireball

'Fireball!' Paige shouted, it vanished in a cluster of orbs and reappeared in her hand, she then orbed out and reappeared behind the creature, and threw the fireball at the demon's back. Unfortunately, this didn't do much, the demon turned around and prepared to fire another energy pulse, but it stopped, it suddenly began shaking violently as a large icicle pierced it's back and came out through it's chest. The demon blew up, and after the smoke disappeared, Paige saw Aidan standing there, with his arm outstretched, he had obviously fired the icicle.

Paige smirked 'I didn't know you could do stuff like that,'

Aidan walked over and put his arms around her waist 'Well, ice is a form of water, so I can control it,'

'Well Aidan Parker, you are just one mystery after another aren't you?'

'Yes I am,' he answered before leaning in and kissing her, it had been a month since she had met him, and thanks to the bond they made when he healed her in the fire, their relationship had progressed quickly and Aidan was spending most nights at the Manor instead of his apartment.

'Mmmmm… okay I gotta go, I've got the late shift at the fire house,' Paige had discovered that Aidan was a fireman, which was quite fitting because of his powers, he had told her that his powers were the main reason he went into the profession, so he could use them to save people.

Paige sighed 'Alright, go and rescue pretty girls from tall burning buildings, but don't forget about me, okay?'

Aidan smiled 'Of course not,' he kissed her again, but splashed out midway, making it look as if Paige was standing alone, kissing air.

'I hate it when he does that!'

* * *

Paige orbed home, finding Piper standing over Chris in the boy's room, watching him sleep.

'What the hell-,' Paige began

'Shh!' Piper mouthed for them to go downstairs, they walked down the stairs and continued their conversation.

'Alright, I know that demon was powerful, but how did it get the better of you? When I orbed in you were on the ground!'

Piper avoided her gaze 'I think something's wrong with my powers,'

'What makes you think that?' Paige asked

Piper picked up a book on the coffee table 'This is me freezing something,' she threw the book into the air and put up her hands in the familiar gesture, the book froze but it didn't even hold for a second, a person who didn't know about magic wouldn't have even noticed the short stall in the book's flight.

'And this is me being invisible,' when she used her invisibility, you could still see her, she was only a little hazy.

'And when I try to blow up stuff, I only make a spark, and I can't hold my massing and phasing for more than a millisecond!'

'Have you told Leo?'

'He's away checking with the Elders, but what if they just get weaker and weaker until they fade away?'

Paige couldn't answer that question 'I have an idea, I'll be right back,' Paige orbed out, with an idea in her head.

* * *

'Paige? What are you doing here?' Emma deLauro, the head of the potions department at Magic School asked the visitor who had just orbed into her classroom.

'Hey Emma, I knew you'd be here, you're always working late, anyway, I need your help, you're a telempath, right?' Emma nodded her head 'Good! My sister needs your help!' Paige grabbed Emma's arm and orbed back to the manor.

* * *

'Are you sure you want to do this? It can be quite dangerous,' Emma asked the two sisters. Paige's plan was to link up with Piper's mind using Emma's powers, she could use psionic blasts like Phoebe so she could use her ability to link Paige with Piper so that she could go into her mind and find out what was wrong with her powers.

'Yeah, it's the only way, if that sort demon attacks again, I can't defend myself and Paige's powers can't really kill so I have to get to the bottom of this,'

'Alright,' Emma walked over to Paige, ready to link her up 'Piper, when Paige enters, you first instinct will be fight it, don't, just go with it and you'll be fine,' she fired a psi-blast at Paige and her journey began.

* * *

'Whoa! What happened?' Paige asked herself, she was in the attic and had no idea of how she got there.

She heard Emma's voice echo in her mind _This is one of Piper's memories, the root of her power is underneath them all, you need to find it if you want to know what's going on_ Paige nodded to herself, she made her way to the door, only to have it opened from the other side and pass right through her, it was Phoebe. But looked different, younger she looked as if she had just woken up

'Sweetie, it's 4 o'clock in the morning. What are you doing?' she said as she walked in to the attic. Paige looked around to see who she was talking to, it was Piper, and she was sitting at the table with the Book Of Shadows open and her finger bleeding.

'You're bleeding,' Phoebe said to her obviously distressed sister as she put a cloth on the bleeding hand.

'I don't understand why magic can't fix this. And why we can't bring Prue back. It's not like we haven't cheated death before. I don't understand why this time isn't any different!' she wailed at her little sister.

'Because Leo can't heal the dead, Piper. You know that,' Phoebe answered simply.

'There's other magic, magic that we've used before, scrying, calling a lost witch, reversing time,' she slammed the book shut and stood up 'It's like the book just deserted us and deserted Prue, and I don't understand why!' Piper buried her head in her hands.

Phoebe lowered her arms in defeat

'We lost our sister, how can we ever understand that? We've tried every magical way to bring her back… but we can't, she's gone,' she wrapped her arms around her sister 'I just - I thank God that I didn't lose you too,' she pulled away from the hug and looked at Piper 'We have to get some rest, Prue will never forgive us if we look bad at her funeral,'

Piper managed to smile slightly through all her sorrow and she walked out the attic with Phoebe.

Paige watched the younger versions of her sisters go down the stairs.

'What the hell have I got myself into?'

* * *

'Found it,' Paige said to her big sister after they black orbed into the cave.

'Good, after we revive him, we'll send him after Phoebe and her friends, then the two remaining sisters, after that we'll put him back into the after life and take over with the evil power of three,'

Are you sure we'll be able to return him to the afterlife? We may have the plan, but do we have the power?'

'Yes. After Phoebe's dead, her counterpart, our sister, will be released, then if he fails in killing Piper and Paige, we have the Power Of Three, which will be more than enough to finish two sisters,'

The two sisters entered the cave, a bat flew by, it didn't scare them, but Piper decided to freeze it, just for fun, she put up her hands and in cased the bat in ice. It fell to the ground, shattering and dying instantly, she smiled at her handy work and kept going.

The two reached the back of the cave and smirked at their discovery, there seemed to be some sort of seal, it had a pentagram on it and was glowing, but it was dark at the same time.

'Looks like we found the real gate of hell,' Paige joked.

'I'm surprised other demons haven't tried to use it, I mean they would be unstoppable,' Piper responded.

'It's probably because the demons couldn't get past all those damn traps that the witches made all those years ago, not one evil being comes close to our power,'

'True, but the one we are about to release is probably quite close, are you ready?'

'Hold on, crystals, circle!' the dark matter crystals that were in the box Piper had, obeyed Paige's command and made a circle around the seal as they appeared in a swirl of black orbs.

'Ready, this way he won't try and get away when we summon him,' Paige said.

They both began chanting something, it got faster and faster and as their chanting quickened, the seal began to glow more. It became so bright that the sisters had to close their eyes. They stopped chanting and the light faded away, but there was something there that wasn't before, more like, someone.

Piper and Paige had thin smiles on their faces as they marvelled at who they had summoned, there was a man, he had long brown hair, and seemed to be dressed quite normally for someone who had been summoned from the hellish afterlife.

'Gabriel Ashlocke, I presume?' Piper asked him

Ashlocke smirked 'Filthy demons, you just made a big mistake summoning me!' he threw an energy blast at Paige, but the black crystals that surrounded him started to glow blood red, and the blast fizzled out when it reached the barrier, he recoiled with a surprised look on his face.

'And you made the big mistake of assuming we're 'filthy demons'' Paige warned him.

Piper walked around the seal and looked him in the eye

'We need to talk,'

* * *

'This is getting ridiculous!' Paige said to herself, she had seen so many of Piper's memories, that she was confident she could tell her sister's life story to anyone that asked. She decided to ask for help 'Emma!' she called out, looking at the ceiling 'I'm getting nowhere! I need help,'

_Alright, I'll see what I can do_ she answered.

Back in the real world, Emma talked to Piper 'Piper, you're drowning Paige in irrelevant memories, throw her a life ring, help her out,' although both sisters were unconscious, Piper's eyelids flickered in recognition.

After watching Wyatt being born, the scene changed again, Paige was still standing in the foyer, but the weather outside was awful it was dark and stormy. Her thoughts were interrupted when an a lot younger Piper ran through her ghostly body, followed by another woman, they were heading to the door

'Don't you think you're overreacting? We're perfectly safe here,' the woman said

'Don't say that,' Piper replied 'In horror movies, the person who says that is always the next to die,'

The woman spoke again 'It is pouring rain, there's a psycho on the loose and Jeremy's not even home,'

Piper was pulling on her jacket by this time 'Well I'll-I'll-I'll wait in the cab until he gets home,' she stuttered.

'That'll be cheap,'

'Prue, I saw that pointer move!' Paige gasped; the woman was her dead big sister, Prue!

Prue continued 'No, look, what you saw was Phoebe's fingers pushing the pointer, there's nothing in the attic, she's playing a joke on us,'

'We don't know that. We've lived in this house for months and we've never been able to get that attic door open,' she walked over to the phone 'Great, now the phone doesn't work,' she put it back down in defeat.

'Yeah, the power's out. Look, go with me to the basement,'

'What?' Piper's voice was high now.

'I need you to hold the flashlight while I check out the main circuit box,' Prue replied.

'Phoebe will go with you to the basement, won't you Phoebe?' Piper turned to look at a very young Phoebe who was heading up the stairs.

'Nope, I'm going to the attic,' she started up the steps.

'No, you're not. We already agreed,' the oldest Haliwell ordered.

Phoebe turned and shone the flashlight in her eyes 'I am not waiting for some handyman to check out the attic and I'm certainly not waiting until tomorrow. I'm going now,' she climbed the stairs.

Prue stormed into the living room in frustration with Piper running after her.

Paige was tempted to follow Prue, but for some reason, she was drawn towards the attic. She climbed to the top of the stairs to the attic, expecting to find Phoebe, but instead there was a portal in the attic doorway. She thought that it would be the only to progress in Piper's mind, so Paige stepped through the portal.

She didn't find the attic, that was for sure! She was a room that was filled with bright lights; the rest the room was pitch black. In the centre, there seemed to be one big light were all the little ones were going into, she had found the root of Piper's powers.

By looking at the light, she achieved some sort of clarity, it was such a tranquil feeling, if Piper's power were on the fritz and they looked like this, she could only imagine how beautiful her working powers would be.

By the looks of things, Piper's powers seemed to be conserving themselves, but for what reason? Maybe because she was using them too much, or more likely it was preparing for a power advancement.

It seemed that as Paige figured it out, there was a bright flash appeared and she was back in the Manor, with Piper and Emma standing over her.

'Oh God! Please tell me this isn't another memory!' Paige pleaded.

'Don't worry! It isn't! And I'm glad you find my life so interesting,' Piper retorted sarcastically.

'So? Did you find out what you needed,' Emma asked.

'Well, as soon as I thought that Piper was getting a power advancement, I was thrown out so I'm guessing that's what's wrong. Her powers are conserving their energy for the upgrade,'

'Wait a minute, I'm getting a power advancement?' Piper questioned her sister

'Seems like it,' they were all standing now.

'Awwww… isn't this touching?'

The three wheeled around to see the evil Piper and Paige, a man accompanied them, Emma went white when she saw who it was.

'Miss me Emma?' he asked her with a malevolent tone in his voice, he fired a powerful energy blast at her. Paige was about to orb it back at him, but Emma stepped forward and raised some sort of shield, which the blast bounced off harmlessly.

'I'll take care of her, get rid of the other two!' the man ordered

'With pleasure,' Paige said, as a crossbow smoked into her hand, she aimed at her good counterpart and fired.

Piper instantly recoiled from the thought of confrontation, since her powers weren't working properly, how could she protect herself against… herself!

Piper ran for the dining room, but she wasn't fast enough, the force from a nearby explosion sent her to the ground. Her counterpart walked up to her crippled body.

'Hmmmm…It's not like me to run from a fight,' she sneered, she put up her hands to deliver the final blow, when Piper put up her hands instinctively.

Her powers had come back! And even better than before! The blast sent her counterpart through the ceiling and severely injured.

Seeing that one of their allies was down, Paige and Gabriel realised that they were out numbered and left the fight, carrying Piper with him.

'Are you okay?' Paige asked her sister as she helped her up from the floor.

'Yeah, can't say the same for my counterpart though,'

'Or your ceiling, or most of your living room!' Emma stated, Piper gasped as she surveyed the damage from her power advancement, there was a large hole in the ceiling and most of her furniture was on fire.

'Oh my God! I did _all_ that?'

'Well, no, but most of it, the rest is mine and Emma's fault,'

Emma looked instantly guilty 'I'm sorry! I'll pay for and replace anything I damaged!' she said hurriedly

'Ugh… don't worry about it, I'll fix it with magic or something, but I can be tomorrow's problem, along with all of the other problems,'

'I second that, I'm going to bed,' Paige began to walk upstairs with Piper.

'Um…okay… I'll just leave,' Emma realised she was talking to herself and quickly walked out of the house

Alright! I know, not one of my best, but as I said it was just a time filler, I'm back to MX now and the next two chapters are going to be really long and good (I hope!)

Chapter 12 'R and R' will be up soon!


	12. R and R Part 1

It seems that a couple more people have jumped on the reviewing squad, so thanks! Remember, you keep reviewing and I'll keep writing.

**R and R**

_Why am I always the one getting hurt? Phoebe thought, this guy had been channelling heat though his hands, and was burning every part of her clothing, along with her top layer of skin, he had also taken a liking to cutting her with a rusty knife, the cuts were shallow and bled freely, if her friends didn't come through that door soon, she wouldn't last much longer. It had went on for hours, he kept burning her, and just when she thought it was over, he would do something else, like lick her burnt flesh and begin again._

'_Hmmmm… I can see why my little brother's into you, you're sexy and you're not a screamer, but I bet you look even better with you top off!'_

_Phoebe's eyes widened, she closed her eyes in horror as he started to unbutton the burnt remains of her blouse, and she felt so vulnerable in just her bra. She had given up on screaming half an hour ago, she was only wasting her breath as the piece of tape over her mouth prevented her from saying anything. She felt his hand on her stomach, it was like having an iron pressed against her, he removed the tape from her mouth and kissed her forcefully._

'_Don't die yet baby, I can't wait to see what you look like without those jeans,' he whispered in her ear, he ran his tongue across her ear and began to pull down her jeans. For the first time since this had started, Phoebe began to cry, she was going to be raped and killed and there nothing she could do about it._

'Phoebe! Wake up!'

Phoebe sprang from her bed and sat up in a bolt-right position, she was covered in sweat. Lexa was sitting next to her; she had come in and woke her up.

'Are you okay?' Lexa said with concern.

'No. No I'm not alright! It's like he's haunting me, Lea! Every time I close my eyes it's like it's happening again!' she began to cry as Lexa pulled her into an embrace. This was becoming a regular occurrence in Sanctuary, Phoebe kept having nightmares about her traumatic experience with Brennan's brother, Lexa would come and wake her up, as she was screaming in her sleep and after that, neither of them would be able to get back to sleep. This routine had drained both girls greatly of their energy and it was beginning to take its toll, as all members of Mutant X were tired.

Because of Phoebe's emotional state and fatigue, she had hardly been up for missions. And with Lexa up with her every night, she was tired also; this made them lose control of their powers slightly. This left Brennan and Jesse with all the missions, they would come home at night and just go straight to their rooms and the next day this horrible cycle would begin again.

It was really only Jesse and Lexa had talked with each other, as Brennan was avoiding everyone, especially Phoebe, and she wouldn't even come out of her room most of the time!

After three weeks of this, Lexa decided she'd had enough, and hatched a plan. She found Jesse at the computers as always.

'Jesse, we need to talk,'

He turned round on the computer stool 'I know,'.

* * *

'Alright, let's start with what we know,' Jesse suggested, they had moved to the rec area where they would be comfortable to talk.

Lexa flopped back in the chair she was in 'We have one team-mate who's wallowing in guilt and another who's traumatised and afraid to come out of her room, not to mention the stress that all four of us are feeling,'

Jesse sat forward 'But what can we do though? Both of them are refusing help but we are still the one's being left to pick up the pieces,'

'If only we could find a way for Brennan to feel that Phoebe's forgiven him and to help Phoebe through her problems both at the same time,'

Jesse suddenly looked up to meet her eyes.

'I have an idea,'.

* * *

Brennan was sitting in front of his computer; his fatigue was showing on his face. He had dark circles around his eyes and barely awake at his desk. There was a knock at his door, he wearily told the person to go away, but Jesse entered all the same.

'Jess, if it's another mission then forget it, I'm ready to pass out here!'

'No, it's not another mission, although I think you should get out of here for a while,'

'What do you mean?' Brennan asked

'Look, Bren, we both know you've been out of it lately, maybe you should go up to your Mom's? From what you told us, it'll be beautiful this time of year,'

'I dunno Jess…'

'C'mon man! Think about it! You'll be able to spend some stress free time with your family! And…you know… you're gonna have to tell them about Ryan sooner or later…' Jesse trailed off.

Brennan looked down at the floor, he would have to tell his family about his brother and how he died, but how could he explain it? He knew that Ryan had had to pay for what he did to Phoebe. Another pang of guilt swept over him when he thought of Phoebe.

On the other hand, it would be great to see everyone again, his sisters, and the new kids that his Mom had taken in, not to mention going around the stables again.

'I think I will,' Brennan said with the first smile he had had in days.

Now this was the dangerous part of the plan, Jesse decided just to come right out with it.

'And… you know… why don't you take Phoebe?'

Brennan's smile vanished as he looked at his best friend with a look that could kill.

'What!?'

'She needs a vacation just as much as you do, and you never know, a relaxing trip into the country could help her through the trauma,'

Jesse deliberately struck this nerve, hoping that Brennan would want to do everything in his power of help his friend.

'Let me think it over,' was his answer.

That was good enough for Jesse; he left Brennan to his thoughts and went to meet up with Lexa.

* * *

'So, you talk to Phoebe?'

'Yeah, I was very subtle, I asked her if the opportunity for a vacation rose, would she take it?'

'What did she say?'

'She said she didn't know, but I can tell she would jump at the chance,'

'Okay, ' Jesse began 'Do you know what to do tonight?'

Lexa gave him a wary look 'I don't know, it seems a little cruel for Phoebe,'

'Don't worry, if Brennan doesn't react the way we think, then you can be on standby,' Jesse assured her.

'Fine, I just hope you're not wrong,'

* * *

It was another one of those nights, Brennan couldn't get a wink if sleep. He rolled over in his bed and looked at the digital clock on his nightstand, the red lights were flashing 3: 41, he sighed and turned over again. His heart skipped a beat when he heard Phoebe begin to scream in her sleep again, it was ever since that had started, that Brennan had had trouble sleeping. He expected to hear Lexa running down the hallway any minute now, as she was the one who always tended to her, but after around three minutes, there were no footsteps. He wasn't about to let Phoebe suffer anymore so jumped out of bed and went to wake her up himself.

Brennan ran into her room, she was writhing underneath the covers of her bed and was screaming loudly; he began to shake her vigorously, knowing that she wouldn't wake up if he took the gentle approach. Phoebe's eyes shot open and she sat up, breathing heavily and clutching her chest.

'Hey, it's all right, he's gone,' Brennan said softly.

'For now,' her voice was shaky.

Brennan took her hand 'Listen to me, he can't hurt you anymore, if he tries, he'll have to get by me, okay?'

Her breathing slowed down back to its normal rate, Phoebe smiled 'Thanks,'

Although Brennan wasn't sure, he thought he saw a flicker of peace in her eyes that he hadn't seen for almost a month. He began to leave, when Phoebe tightened the grip she had on his hand.

'Brennan? Could you… stay here tonight? You know, until I fall asleep?'

He looked at her 'Sure,' he took the blanket at the bottom of bed and draped over the sofa in her room, making a makeshift bed.

'No, I meant… here,' she patted the area of bed beside her.

Brennan hesitated, but he saw the look of hope and fear on her face and reconsidered. He wordlessly lay down in the bed, and was surprised when Phoebe cuddled up to him, he cautiously put his arm around her, and was surprised when she welcomed the gesture and moved even closer to him.

After about 20 minutes, Phoebe was fast asleep; Brennan watched her body move up and down in time with her breathing. He decided it was time to leave, but as he began to move, Phoebe whimpered and clenched her fists around the fabric of his t-shirt, holding on to it, not wanting him to leave. Brennan realised that he wasn't going to get away without disturbing her, and she really needed a good night's sleep, so he made himself a little more comfortable and tried to get to sleep.

_No, not again, no! She was chained up again and could see him coming towards her, but it wasn't him, it was Brennan. He run over and blasted the shackles with his powers, freeing her. He took her in his arms as she leaned against his chest, they both look at each other as Brennan leaned in and… _

Phoebe woke up, a little disorientated. She looked around, noticing Brennan sleeping peacefully next to her; she smiled softly at this sight, and rested her head on his chest again, falling back into a dreamless slumber.

* * *

'Lexa? Have you seen my jeans with the rips in them anywhere?' Phoebe asked her friend; she was packing for the trip that she was going on. Brennan had asked her this morning to come up to the country with him as a vacation, she was a little wary. Considering how she had exposed a weaker side of herself last night, but she decided that she really needed to get away.

'Umm… there're in your hand,' Lexa said with a smirk on her face.

Phoebe gave her a blank look and put the jeans into the bag.

'Hmm… a little distracted, are we?' she asked Phoebe with a grin 'wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that you're going away… with Brennan… would it?'

Phoebe gave her a sarcastic chuckle 'Don't start, or I'll open fire on the Jesse situation,'

Lexa's grin vanished as she continued to fold Phoebe's belongings 'I don't know what you're talking about,'

'Oh really? I'm an empath remember? I can tell when people have the hots for each other, you're lucky I'm not affected by other peoples emotions too, if I was I'd be like an animal in heat!'

Lexa continued to deny 'I have no idea where you're picking up feelings of attraction, but it certainly isn't from me,'

'Whatever, just sort out the sexual tension before I get back,'

'Lexa turned to her, wearing a devious smile 'Likewise,'

Phoebe gave her a mock-offended look before throwing one of her pillows at her

'Just think,' Phoebe put on a romanticised voice 'The two of you…alone…in this big ol' rock… something's bound to happen,' she giggled as she picked up her bag.

'Yeah, yeah, just get out of my sight, missy,' Lexa laughed, softly hitting her on the back as they left the room………

'It's about time!' Brennan shouted at the appearing girls that were coming into the garage.

'Oh calm down, I didn't take that long considering the short notice!' Phoebe answered. She walked over to Brennan, who seemed to be ready to go.

'So, how we getting there? Helix? Your Camaro? The Mustang?' Phoebe asked casually.

'Not exactly,' Brennan stepped to the side to reveal a run down, rusting old pick-up truck.

'You've gotta be kidding me!' Phoebe said dryly

'Well, no one can say you don't travel in style, Bren,' Lexa circled the vehicle, holding back a laugh.

'Look it's just to keep up appearances with my family, if I show up with a flashy car and a pretty girl,' he smiled when he said this 'they're gonna start asking questions which I can't answer,'

Phoebe glared at him 'Flattery will get you nowhere, and neither will that car,'

* * *

After 10 minutes of arguing, Phoebe had given in and hopped into the truck, hoping that it wouldn't give out on the way. The journey had been silent so far; they hadn't been alone with each other since last night and leaving questions floating about in both of their heads.

Phoebe decided to break the tension 'So, I take it your family doesn't know about Mutant X?'

'No, they don't, as know we have a lot of enemies…'

'I have the cuts and burns to prove it,' Phoebe muttered.

'What?'

'Oh, nothing, continue,'

'Well, anyway, we have a lot of enemies, and I wouldn't want them to be hurt because of me, like you were,' he trailed off.

Phoebe looked at him sympathetically 'Do you blame yourself for what your brother did to me?'

Brennan kept his eyes on the road, avoiding her gaze 'Yes, Ryan wouldn't have even been near us if he didn't want revenge on me, and he wouldn't have…' he didn't know what to say 'to you if weren't connected to me, he knew that the best way to get back at me was to go for the people a care about,'

Phoebe spun her head round to look at him; she smiled 'You care about me?'

'Like you even need to ask,' he muttered.

After a while of no one talking Phoebe spoke.

'Brennan?'

'Hmm?'

'I care about you too,'

Brennan looked at her with a smile, and after that the conversation seemed to lighten and the journey became a lot more fun………

It was around one in the morning; Brennan had stopped the truck at a run down gas station. Phoebe sleeping peacefully in the passenger seat, using the coat that he had offered her as a blanket. As he was getting out of the car to fill up the tank, looked at her, she looked to calm, her hair had fallen like a curtain in front of her resting eyes, she curled up, only moving slightly now and again. Brennan smiled at this sight, she was beautiful when she was sleeping, but just as beautiful awake as well.

After paying for the gas and getting some extra strength 'stay awake' pills, Brennan got back on the road and headed towards home. He had rolled down the window so that the cold January air would constantly hit his face and keep him awake, but it was this noise that woke up Phoebe.

Her eyes squinted open 'Mmm… Brennan? What time is it?'

'Just after three…' he answered, his tiredness was clearly audible in his voice.

'What? Why didn't you wake me up sooner? I could have drove for a while,' she sat up, protesting.

'You looked so peaceful, I didn't want to disturb you,'

'Yeah, well, I'd rather give up a couple hours of sleep than die in a fiery car crash because you fell asleep at the wheel. Come on, pull over this hunka junk and switch seats with me,'

Brennan didn't have the energy to argue with her, and some sleep sounded good right about now.

'But you don't even know how get to where we're going,' Brennan said.

'Just give me a couple of directions and I'll be fine, we're on a straight road, how hard can it be?'

He sighed 'How long do you think you'll be able to go?'

Phoebe smiled 'The rest of the journey,' she pulled a flask out of her bag 'My little sister taught me how to make some really strong coffee,'

'What's in it?'

'The usual stuff, along with some magical ingredients, guaranteed to keep you awake for at least seven hours,'

Brennan gave in, he pulled the truck over, switched sides with Phoebe and after giving her a few directions, they set off again, with Phoebe at the wheel.

* * *

'Hmm… I don't agree with that,' Brennan said, it was now around twelve thirty, he had taken over from Phoebe an hour ago and right now they were arguing about their definitions of 'the one'.

'How can you disagree?' Phoebe asked with a hint of disbelieve in her voice.

'Sure, the one is a person who loves you no matter what, but that could be anyone! A close friend, a family member, these people still love you no matter what,'

'Alright Mr. Expert, what do you think the one is,' she asked, crossing her arms.

'The one is the person that you trust more than anything in your life, the one is a person that, even if you go your separate ways, no one will replace them in heart, and above all, the one is a person that…' his voice lowered 'you would give up an entire lifetime for, just for one moment with them…' he trailed off.

Phoebe was stunned by the passion in his words and kept silent until Brennan announced they were here.

The road had a corner, which Brennan stopped at; she gave him a puzzled look.

'C'mon, you have to see the view from here!' Brennan told her excitedly. They exited the car and went to the corner of the road. Phoebe let out a sigh of amazement, she was looking into a large, but secluded valley, it had a small river running through and fields stretching as far as the eye could see.

'See that big cottage over there?' Brennan pointed at a little brown dot on the scenery 'That's where we're going… Phoebe?' he looked at her; she seemed to in some sort of trance.

'This is the most beautiful place I've ever seen,' she breathed.

'Phoebe?'

'Yeah?'

'Are you still glad you come?' he asked her.

'Yes!' was her enthusiastic response, he smiled at her and walked back to the car. She watched him walk back to car.

'Definitely,' she whispered to herself.

* * *

They drove up the dusty path towards the house. Now that she was closer, Phoebe could really see the size of the place, it was huge! It had three stories, a porch, not to mention an entire farm behind.

'So, is there anything I should avoid saying?' Phoebe asked

Brennan was thinking 'Hmm… I don't think so, but avoid the Ryan thing, let me tell them,'

Brennan left the car in front of the house as Phoebe marvelled at the sights around her, there was a young girl telekinetically lifting weeds out of the vegetable patches, a little boy was glaring at plants, and as soon as he looked at them, they would grow instantly.

'Brennan! What the hell are you doing!' a woman came up to him, shouting and flicking her hands out again and again.

Phoebe smiled and knew what she was trying to do.

'Good witches don't freeze,' she said to the panicky woman.

The woman gave her a strange look, then looked at Brennan

'She's not mortal, Mary, do you really think I would really be that stupid?' she gave him a look 'don't answer that question,'

Phoebe looked at her, she had short blond hair and looked as if she had been on the farm all her life, her face had been kissed by the winter sun and she looked as if she had just stopped working, because she was still covered in dirt.

'I'm Phoebe Haliwell,' she held out her hand kindly

Mary gave her a wary look, but then smiled 'Nice to meet you! I'm Mary Simmons! Haliwell huh? You a Charmed One?'

Phoebe was shocked by that question 'Ho-How did you know?'

'Word travels fast in the magical community, if demons and warlocks know who you are, then the good guys know too,'

Phoebe was unsure about how she felt about that, but she smiled anyway.

'Brennan, your Mom went into the city with Nelle and Sandra, they won't be back until tomorrow,'

'That's a shame, I guess I'll need to wait, where's Ally?' he asked the blond.

'I think she's inside preparing lunch,' she answered 'It was nice meeting you,' Mary said to Phoebe before running back to the field.

The two walked up the stairs to the front of the house.

'Who was that?'

Brennan looked at her 'Oh! Remember how I told you that my Mon takes in magical orphans?' Phoebe nodded 'Well, Mary's been here all her life, she's like a fourth sister to me,' she nodded at his answer and prepared herself to meet his sister.

From what Brennan had told her, Ally was the middle sister of the Mulwray girls and had the power of hydrokinesis, the ability to create and control water. Brennan had also told her that Ally was the most easy-going, so she luck that Ally was the first family member she would meet.

'I'm home!' Brennan shouted as they walked in the front door, Phoebe was once again amazed at the freedom of magic, there were kids scattered around the living room most of them using their powers!

Suddenly, a girl screamed she began to float up into the air, and the house was built so that there was a big whole running up the middle and rooms on the sides, if the girl dropped from the maximum height, she would be hurt. Bad.

A woman with long dark hair ran out of the kitchen that connected to the living room, she had a tea towel over her shoulder. She looked and sighed.

'Oh no! how are we gonna get her down this time! Nelle isn't here to manipulate gravity… Brennan?' she woman turned round, she looked a lot like Piper, Phoebe thought.

'Hey sis! Having trouble?'

'Yes! If we don't get her down safely she's gonna hurt badly!'

'I'll get her,' Phoebe offered she quickly levitated up to the girl, who was whimpering with fear. Phoebe took hold of her arms and brought her down gently.

'There you go!' she said kindly

'Uh… thanks,' the girl replied before she sat down on the couch.

'Um… Excuse me? Who the hell are you?' Ally asked calmly

'Oh, sorry! I'm Phoebe Haliwell,' she shook hands with the shocked Mulwray.

'Wow! You're a Charmed One?' Ally exclaimed.

Phoebe decided that she would have to get used to this happening, so she just accepted it.

'Yeah,'

'Cool! So, I take it you're here with Brennan?' she smirked and raised her eyebrows.

'Yes, she is, but not in the way you think,' Brennan answered 'We just decided we both needed a break,'

'Well, if you're planning on staying, I'll show you to your room' Ally told her warmly 'Brennan? Could you put lunch out in the dining room? Everything's ready, it just needs to be served,'

'Sure,' he disappeared into the kitchen.

The two women climbed the stairs to the third floor; Ally opened a door close to the stairs and led Phoebe in. She was in awe again, there was a lovely view of the fields from her high up room, and there was an adjoining bathroom, an inviting bed and a large closet in the corner.

'I'll leave you to unpack,' Ally smiled 'Are you joining us for lunch or have you ate already?'

'Umm… No, I haven't ate, lunch sounds great, thanks,'

'Okay, take your time, I'll save some for you if you decide to just go for a nap,'

'Thank you,' Phoebe said gratefully

'No problem, nice meeting you,' Ally left to go back downstairs.

Phoebe looked around her temporary home, and thought that she was going to have a good time.

* * *

Night had creeped up on the farm, Brennan was thickly wrapped up as he sat on the porch. His thoughts wondered to Phoebe again, they had been doing that a lot lately, and every time they did, he would wish she were in his arms like she had had been that night.

Just then, the front door creaked open, letting some of the light and warmth of the house escape, he turned to see the object of his thoughts walking towards him and leaned on the wooden railing in front of him.

'Thank you for bringing me up here,' she said warmly

'No problem, we both needed a break,' he replied

She looked down at her feet and shivered, Brennan immediately saw this took off his coat and put it round her. Phoebe snuggled into the collar and pulled it around herself even more.

'I need to tell you something,' she said.

'What is it?'

Phoebe looked away, and then rubbed his bare arm 'Aren't you cold?'

'I'll survive, what did you want to tell me?'

She sighed and looked down again 'One of the reasons I came up here… is because… when you stayed with me that night, the dream began again when I went to sleep, but just before _he_ could do anything to me, you appeared and saved me, and I guess… I've just felt safest with you ever since then and, I don't want that feeling to go away,'

She looked up, expecting Brennan to answer, but he didn't. He brought his hand up to her cheek and lightly brushed his thumb over her bottom lip, he leaned in and gently brushed his lips against hers, this simple gesture set off fireworks in Phoebe's body as she closed her eyes. Brennan pulled back and looked at her, both of them could see the desire burning in each other's eyes. Brennan leaned in and kissed her again, but it was returned this time as Phoebe intensified it by wrapping her arms around his neck, running her hands through his hair, and trying to bring herself even closer to him. It wasn't long before their tongues were exploring each other's mouths, their hands were roaming everywhere, Brennan had settled his hands at Phoebe's sides, while hers continued to go through his hair. Phoebe suddenly realised what she was doing, she pulled out of the passionate embrace and stared at him for a couple of seconds before running inside and leaving Brennan to try and understand what happened.

* * *

Okay! Sorry I haven't updated as quickly as usual, but I really wanted to make sure this chapter was perfect, and I'm satisfied it is!

Chapter 13 'R and R Part 2' will be up soon!


	13. R and R Part 2

Hey! Hope the last chapter redeemed me for 'Explosion Erosion' I have a few shout outs lol!

wyatt333 – I don't think I've ever had a demand for a chapter… cool! Thanks for reviewing!

Princess Pinky – I'm glad you liked the house! I enjoyed writing about it! Thanks for all your responses!

Mixer – Their powers will explained before this story ends, but not right now, thanks for reviewing!

CuteLittleBritt – Piper's new power will be revealed in the next P & P (Piper and Paige) chapter, please keep reading and reviewing!

PiPeRAnGeL39 – You've been loyal to story, thanks for your encouraging reviews!

General Mac – A short and sweet response, keep'm coming!

lemu91 – Thanks for the complement, I like to think so too lol!

* * *

**R and R Part 2**

It was a beautiful morning, Phoebe could hear the birds singing as sunlight poured in though the small crack in the curtains. She could smell the crisp winter air through an open window, she even heard voices, they must have been getting ready for another day of farming. It was going to be a great day for everyone, except Phoebe.

She groaned and pulled the thick covers over her head, after what had happened with Brennan last night, today was going to be tough, but she would have to face it sooner or later, and she had promised the girl she helped out yesterday, Josie, that she would give her levitation lessons. Reluctantly, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and headed to the bathroom for a shower.

As the warm water pounded her back, she realised she would have to set things straight with Brennan, but first she would have to set things straight with herself. Why did I kiss him? She kept thinking over and over again, but she just told herself that it was because of her premonition, her dream, and the bond that she formed with him, it was making her love crazy! That was all. She stepped out of the shower, feeling better about her situation.

She came down to the kitchen and found Ally, blasting dishes with the water cascading from her hand.

'Morning!' she greeted her cheerfully 'Did you sleep well?'

'Yeah, that bed is the most comfortable I've ever slept in,' replied Phoebe enthusiastically.

She watched some of the older kids running about outside, getting various farming tools.

'I wouldn't have thought there was much to do on a farm in the winter,' Phoebe stated

'Oh no, there's tons to do! You have to make sure the animals are safe, you need to make sure that the frost doesn't wreck the soil, but that's on a mortal farm,' Ally smiled 'We have so many witches here, so we use our powers to grow crops even in the winter,'

'But you need sunlight to make plants grow,'

'Not all the time, we have a kid who can make plants grow faster, we have a kid who can manipulate light, and if that isn't enough, my Mom can always move the clouds so that the sun can get through,'

Phoebe spluttered on her coffee in surprise 'Your Mom was that kind of power?!'

Ally laughed at her reaction 'Yeah, she's atmokinetic; it means she can control the atmosphere. You know, like, causing storms, moving rain clouds, and if she's really pissed, she usually ends up causing a little thunder by accident,'

'Wow! Your family is really powerful!'

She smiled 'Not as powerful as yours,'

Phoebe's face went red 'Maybe, but when it comes to powers, you have us beat. I would have killed for your power when I first became a witch, and my Mom could only freeze time, while yours is away shifting clouds and creating storms!'

Ally went back to doing dishes and looking out the window 'Yeah, well, having strong powers comes with disadvantages, like what they did to Ryan,' she turned to Phoebe 'Brennan told me what happened,'

Phoebe avoided the hurt woman's gaze 'I'm sorry, I…'

'What? You don't need to apologise, we all knew that Ryan would come back someday and want revenge, I'm just sorry you got caught in crossfire,'

She turned back to scrubbing the breakfast plates as Phoebe drank her coffee and ate the leftover bagels that were from breakfast.

'Ally! Ally!' a young girl, no older than 5 rushed into the kitchen.

'Hey, slow down! What's wrong?' Ally knelt down beside the girl and stroked her hair.

'Matt turned Johnny into a pig again!' the little girl whined.

Ally sighed 'Okay, tell him to get his butt in here, why don't you take Phoebe to where Johnny is? She'll fix him,'

The girl leaned in and whispered something in Ally's ear, which Ally laughed at 'Don't worry, you can trust her, she's Brennan's friend,'

Phoebe gave the woman a look, she didn't like the tone she had said Brennan's name in, but she decided to ignore it.

Phoebe smiled cautiously at the girl, who slowly walked over to her.

'My name's Renee,' she introduced herself.

Phoebe knelt down so she was at eye level with the girl 'My name's Phoebe, and it's very nice to meet you,'

Renee smiled at her 'What do you look like?'

'What?'

Ally stepped in 'Renee has the power to see people's aura's, if she can't see you, it means your aura is really bright or really dark, which one is it, Renee?'

'It's very very bright,' she answered triumphantly.

* * *

Renee was dragging Phoebe down to the barn; apparently this was where the Johnny was. They entered and a group of boys, probably around 7 years old, were standing around something and laughing.

'Ally's wantin to see you, Matt!' the little girl squealed. One of the boys turned around, he looked like the average little boy troublemaker, and he had obviously been playing in the mud.

'Toooooooo bad,' the little boy said with his hands on his hips.

Phoebe knelt down and talked to Renee 'Go and tell Ally that Matt will be up soon, okay?'

The little girl nodded and run back up to the large house.

Phoebe turned her attention to the little boy, who was glaring at her.

'Watcha gonna do, lady?' he spat

'You're going to reverse this magic, or I'll tell your friends some of your secrets,'

'Liar!' he retorted.

'Okay, but I warned you,' Phoebe began probing the youths mind 'Aww… How cute! You sleep in Blue's Clue's pyjamas!'

The little boys face went red as his friends sniggered at him 'Reverse the magic, or I'll tell them a _whole_ lot more,'

Matt had a heavy scowl on his face, but he turned around and threw a potion at the pig, which slowly began to change into a little boy, who she presumed was Johnny. He ran out the barn door, wanting to avoid Matt at all costs.

Matt was fuming on his way up to the house, he was kicking every spare pebble he could find, his friends followed him, making the odd remark about his pyjamas.

'Nicely done,'

Phoebe spun around on the spot to find Brennan looking at her from the barn door, she had been dreading this moment ever since she woke up, she would have to give him an answer.

'Hey,' she answered, her voice barely above a whisper.

'How have you been?' he asked

'Fine, you know, just helping your sister out,' smiled nervously

There was a silence

'Look, Phoebe, about last night…'

'Brennan, please, don't. Right now I' just so scattered… I can't even make sense of what happened last night… I'm just trying to say that… I need some… time,' she stuttered.

He sighed 'Okay, I'm not going pressurise you,' he moved his hand to her arm assuringly, but as soon as their skin made contact, Phoebe was hit with a premonition. A big premonition.

* * *

She opened her eyes to see that she was lying in a large double bed, with the sun in eyes. Phoebe squinted against the light and got out of the bed, she looked around, it looked like a normal bedroom, it looked like someone had been in the bed with her, but had left earlier. Phoebe suddenly heard voices coming from the hallway, they were getting closer.

Two kids appeared, the boy who looked like he was in his early teens was obviously the older of the two, he had thick, dark, messy hair and was standing in front of the other, a girl, she had dark hair also although it ran to the middle of her back, she looked a lot like Prue.

'Mom? What are you doing out of bed? You should be fighting off that laryngitis,' the girl said to her.

_Mom?!_ Phoebe's thoughts shrieked in her head. What kind of premonition was this?

'C'mon, Faith, you know Mom, she never likes having to skip work, even for a day,' the boy said, so the girl's name was Faith, she corrected herself, her daughter's name was Faith!

'Oh! That reminds me! Dad called the paper this morning before he went for his shift at the hospital, he told them that you were taking a well-deserved break and that your column would be in when you were feeling better,'

Phoebe gave the Faith a confused look 'You're probably wondering why we're home at this time, Connor and I decided to come and visit you, and get lunch at the same time,'

Phoebe nodded, pretending to know what was going on, so her son was called Connor, and her daughter was called Faith.

Another voice rang out 'Faith! Connor! You ready to orb back to school?'

Connor looked at his watch 'Shoot… Faith, we gotta go,'

The dark haired girl groaned 'Double magical combat lessons… why?'

'Are you kidding? Combat lessons are the best! Especially when you get use your powers!

Faith glared at him 'Easy for you to say, you have an active powers…'

'Guys, hurry up! Afternoon classes start in a minute!' two more people entered the room, they were both girls, they looked in between the ages of Connor and Faith, and they were twins! They had blond hair that went just past their shoulders and… was it just Phoebe? Or did these girls look slightly like Paige?

'Hey Aunt Phoebe! One of them said enthusiastically 'Are you sure you don't want me to heal you?'

'No, she told us this morning that she doesn't want us to use magic just to get rid of normal sicknesses,' Conner said

'Aright, and by the way,' she turned to Phoebe 'my Mom says hi!' Mel answered

'C'mon, lets go,' Faith said sadly

'Alright,' the other twin answered ' Oh! And, Aunt Phoebe? Aunt Piper says she'll bring you some soup later,'

'Bye Mom!' Connor said as all four of the orbed out.

* * *

Phoebe opened her eyes to find Brennan looking over her, whispering 'Thank God,' to himself.

'Ugh… what happened?'

'You passed out, dear,'

Phoebe looked over Brennan to see a woman sitting in one of the living room armchairs.

'Premonitions are a bitch sometimes, aren't they?' the woman winked.

Phoebe gave her a puzzled look, Brennan saw her reaction and explained 'Phoebe, this is my Mom, Julie Mulwray,'

Another woman came out of the kitchen; she looked a lot like Ally, only a bit older.

'Here you go,' she said, giving a glass of water Phoebe 'I'm Nelle by the way,'

Phoebe set the glass down on the table and shook hands with the eldest Mulwray sister.

'It must have been a pretty big premonition to knock you out like that!' Julie stated.

Phoebe decided to keep her premonition to herself 'Oh, it wasn't a premonition, my powers are just a little erratic, sometimes they'll burst out and I'll feel everyone's emotions within a 10 mile radius!' she lied.

'Wow, that must be tough,' another voice rang out behind her, she turned around to see another woman, who she assumed was Sandra, the youngest of the family. She looked different from the others though; she had blond hair that run just past her shoulder. She held out her hand 'Call me Sandy,'

After the introductions were finished and her headache had subsided, Phoebe went outside for some fresh air.

'Don't let her get away, she's a keeper!' Julie teased.

Brennan gave his mother a disapproving look, which she took to heart 'But seriously, she seems nice,'

'She is,' Brennan answered, looking at the door Phoebe had went through.

'Then why do I get the feeling you haven't told her that?'.

* * *

Phoebe had been walking in the forest for around 20 minutes now, her headache had come back and her mind was swimming with thoughts. She needed to calm down and concentrate and as if her thoughts had been answered, she came across a beautiful part of the woods. There was a large rock in the middle of a pond, and flowers surrounded it. Phoebe levitated over to the boulder, not wanting to ruin the plants, and sat down in the middle. She crossed her legs and took her normal meditating position, for some reason, meditating always brought her inner peace. The only downside was that she usually ended up activating her powers and she became a human radar.

She didn't know how long she sat there; she was just enjoying the clarity that came from being in this place. As she had predicted, she sensed someone was coming, and from what she could sense, it was Nelle. She opened her eyes to find that it was night and that she had accidentally created a psionic blast, she snuffed it quickly and prepared for the eldest sister.

'What are you doing here?' the woman's voice rang out.

Phoebe opened her eyes to look at her 'I needed to sort out my thoughts, this place is beautiful,'

'Thanks, I created it,'

Phoebe gave her a shocked look, which she chuckled at 'I'm geokinetic, I have control over the earth, you see, the entire earth is connected,' she knelt down and touched one of the flowers, 'See this flower? It's from Brazil, it was just a matter of channelling it through the earth and bringing it here,' she made a gesture with her hands and the some of the flowers disappeared into the ground, making a path. Nelle walked through the open piece of grass, the plants growing back as soon as she had past their previous area. She reached the edge of the pond and made another gesture with her hands, a stone path arose from the water and took her straight to her Phoebe was sitting, where she joined her.

'So, how long have known Brennan?'

Phoebe looked her with grateful eyes; this was the person that didn't ask her if she was a Charmed One or if she and Brennan were a couple.

'Around 6 months, we work together,' she replied.

'On Mutant X?'

Phoebe's eyes widened when that was said, Nelle quickly explained 'I'm the only one Brennan has told about Mutant X, so don't worry, you don't need to lie,' Nelle positioned herself more comfortably on the boulder 'What's it like?'

'Being in Mutant X?' Nelle nodded

Phoebe looked into the distance 'It's great. I mean, sure, there is an element of danger to it, but I've made good friends with my team-mates, and if that means I have to risk my life now and again, so be it,'

'Don't you miss your family?'

Phoebe didn't answer for a while. She just stared at the moon 'All the time, I wonder if they miss me, I wonder if they're alright, I even wonder if they're alive,'

'I'm sure you would know if they were,' Nelle stated

'What makes you so sure?'

She looked at the water ' Because you can always tell if you family is in need, it's part of makes sister witches so strong, I know I can always tell if my sisters need me,'

'What about Brennan?'

Nelle laughed 'Brennan gets himself into so much trouble, it's hard to keep track,'

The two women laughed at this comment, but as the laughter subsided, Nelle asked Phoebe a question.

'Listen, I usually do weekly demon patrols around the area, but it'll be more fun if you come, what do you say?'

'Okay, cause I sure ain't milking a cow!'

* * *

It was 6am when Phoebe got up, it was still dark. Apparently the demon patrol took all day, so she had to pack all the things she might need for the day. She tiptoed down the stairs, trying not to wake anyone up. Her heart leapt to her throat when she saw Brennan sitting in the kitchen with his hands around a cup of coffee.

'Sorry, did I scare you?' he asked

'Of course not! I just love meeting people unexpectantly at 6 in the morning!' she whispered angrily 'Why are you up?' she said coldly as she moved over to the coffee pot.

'Okay, first of all, it's _my_ house, so I should be scared of the stranger walking into _my_ kitchen, and second of all, I'm always up at this time, but you don't know that because you usually wake up 5 hours later!'

Phoebe spun around, ready to release a venomous remark of her own, but she sighed

'This is ridiculous, Brennan, I don't want to fight with you,'

Brennan looked at the floor 'You're right, I'm sorry,'

'Can we just pretend that what happened two nights ago, didn't happen? I really don't want to screw up our friendship,'

Brennan smiled at her 'Deal,' he sat back down at the table, Phoebe joined him shortly after.

'So, why are you up?' she said with a smirk

'I'm going with Nelle on a demon hunt,' he answered.

'Really? Me too,'

Suddenly, they both lowered their coffee cups from their mouths and looked at each other knowingly, they were both thinking the same thing; set up.

'C'mon, let's go down to the stables and play along,' Phoebe said

'Alright, this _will_ be fun,' Brennan grinned.

Nelle was at the stables getting three horses ready, she saw Phoebe and Brennan walking down together and thought that they looked good with each other, but then Nelle remembered that she had forgot to tell them about the other's presence on this trip, this probably looked like a set up from where they were standing.

'Okay, you guys ready to go?' she said with a smile.

'Yeah, you got a horse for me?' Phoebe asked

'Uh huh, over here, she's called Primrose,' Nelle led her over to a beautiful white horse with a black spot over its eye.

'I think she likes you,' Nelle smiled as she watched Primrose nuzzle Phoebe.

* * *

Phoebe had expected to find no demons whatsoever; they had vanquished 3 in the last 4 hours, which was quite unusual, according to Nelle. They went to the edge of the valley, where they decided to split up.

'Okay, I can only use my powers on ground level, so you guys check the caves up there, and I'll wonder around here,'

'What about the horses?' Phoebe asked, stroking Primrose softly.

'Don't worry, they know the way home, so just leave them and we'll walk back,'

Brennan and Phoebe nodded and dismounted the horses to start climbing the steep cliff face………

'C'mon, I'll help you up!' Brennan told her, this was the last cave they had to check and after that they could go home. He pulled Phoebe up to the caves mouth and they ventured in slowly, this was the biggest cave they had come across so if there were any demons around, they would be here. They began to hear voices as they went deeper into the chasm, they his around the corner and saw demons huddled around a fire, moaning about the cold.

Brennan and Phoebe burst in and began to vanquish them, Brennan was blasting them and Phoebe was shutting down their minds with her psionic blasts, vanquishing them instantly.

'You guys are really too easy to vanquish these days…' Brennan said cockily as he flew over a demon with his jet propulsion power and blasted it in the back, sending it flying and knocking it out.

He went over to help Phoebe who was taking care of the rest without her powers, she sent a powerful roundhouse kick to the head, breaking his neck and she began laying into the last one. Brennan decided to watch her, knowing that she could take these guys in her sleep. Without anyone noticing, the demon that Brennan had knocked out slowly came to, he saw both witches with their backs to him, and it was just a matter of picking his target. He decided on the woman, as he would save his comrade in the process. Brennan turned round to see the demon put up his hand and sending sharp razors from them. He ran forward, hoping he would make it, he shoved Phoebe out of the way and the razors pierced his chest as Phoebe looked on in horror.

Fuelled by her anger, she sent a psionic blast filled with rage at the attacker, causing a painful vanquish, the other one had his head hit repeatedly off the cave wall until he burst into flames.

She skidded down beside Brennan who was shaking violently, she was crying freely now as she cradled his head.

'Brennan… No! You can't! I can't do this alone! I need you! Please! Don't go!' her voice was in a low, shaky whisper as she wept. He began to close his eyes; she had to do something, but what?

She then remembered a spell from the Book of Shadows, it had come with 3 pages of warnings and was dangerous if used on the wrong person, but she didn't care. It was her only chance, and she wasn't going to let him die. She stroked the side of his face and began to whisper the spell.

'Your soul now flickers, in the wind

The light of your eyes, has now dimmed

To bring you back, I give to thee

My heart, my soul, a part of me,'

Phoebe kissed him softly, as soon as their lips met, a blinding white light emitted from the two. Brennan began to heal, the razors in his chest disintegrated and he began to return the kiss as he regained consciousness. The two were locked in a passionate kiss and slowly, clothes began to come off.

* * *

'You do know we're going to have to leave eventually, don't you?' Brennan told the woman in his arms. The only thing covering the two lovers was a blanket that Phoebe had wisely packed.

'I know, but, let's just enjoy the moment while we can,' she moved even closer to him.

'Alright,' he kissed the top of her head

They lay there, sharing body heat until Phoebe sat up and looked around for her clothes, Brennan followed her soon after.

They began climbing down the cliff; it was around midway where Phoebe began to speak.

'Brennan? I've been thinking, what do you think about keeping us a secret for now?

'What? You ashamed of me?' he joked

'No,' she smirked 'Of course not, I would just like to keep it 'our little world' for now,'

'Alright, being private will be good, I guess,' he answered

'Thanks,'

They got to the bottom of the cliff just in time to see Nelle running towards them.

'Thank God! I saw a bright light in the distance and I was worried, you okay?' she asked.

Brennan and Phoebe looked at each other 'Yeah, we're fine,' Brennan answered.

'Okay,' she replied 'Ready to go?'

The two nodded and began walking behind her, as they were walking, Brennan released a small spark of electricity, which made Phoebe yelp.

'You okay?' Nelle asked

'Uh… Yeah, I'm fine,' she turned around and glared at Brennan, who smirked at her and ignited the electricity on his fingertips and showed it off. Phoebe grinned at him and turned back round to keep walking, leaving Brennan to his thoughts

_Oh yeah, private is good!

* * *

_

Okay! What did you think of that? Hope you liked it!

I'm either going to do a Lexa and Jesse chapter, or a Piper and Paige one, if you want a say, click on that purple button at the bottom left of the screen!


	14. Potion Commotion

Okay! I'm giving you a P & P chapter and a J & L chapter! Hope you like!

Persia, and references to the Children Of Light and The Blessed Ones are owned by a fellow author, Princess Pinky

**Potion Commotion**

'Here's one!' Emma shouted from the ladder she was on. She had been helping Paige and Aidan find books or any information about the counterparts, not to mention any books that would help Piper get her new power under control. After the night of the counterparts attack, Piper had found that every time she was slightly angry, she would cause a small earthquake. Leo had diagnosed her with geokinesis, although everyone agreed it was a strange way for her powers to advance. Ever since then she had been scared of her new power, Paige kept trying to remind her that once she got it under control, she would be unstoppable. The Elders theory had been that this new power was either an extension of her exploding power, or it was leftovers from her goddess powers. Piper had been spending every spare minute with Leo, training in Magic School's battle arena, but nothing had helped to far.

Emma walked down the isle to find Paige and Aidan standing at opposite ends of the table.

'What'd you find?' Paige's voice came out in a squeak

'Uh… Paige?'

'Yes?'

'Your lipstick is smeared,' Emma replied with a smirk

Paige's face went red, as did Aidan's as he turned around to avoid eye contact. Paige tried to cover with some lame excuse.

'Uh… You know me, messy applier,' she grinned stupidly

'Uh huh… Anyway, look what I found! I think this might help Piper with her power problems,'

'Let me see,' Emma handed the book over 'Hmm… It's a book on controlling elemental powers,'

'Yeah, there's a section on geokinesis, and hydrokinesis, if you're interested,' Emma turned to Aidan. Who was still dazed by what ever happened between him and Paige when Emma had went away.

'What? Oh! Right! Thanks,' he smiled and run a hand through his short blond hair.

'Hmm… this could help, it gives you instructions on how to start using your powers, I'll show it to Piper later,' Paige closed the book and put it down.

'I'll take it to her, I need to pass the arena to get to the potion labs anyway,' Paige and Emma had combined their knowledge of potions and were working on one to vanquish the counterparts.

'Okay, I'll go take this Piper, and you, um… get back to what you were doing,' Emma smirked and raised her eyebrows, which received a friendly glare from Paige.

'Now,' Aidan walked over to Paige, putting his arms around her waist 'Where were we?'

* * *

'Oh, crap! Leo! Watch out!' Piper screamed at her husband, as the crack in the ground grew bigger and threatened to swallow the elder into the Earth. Leo quickly orbed out before the shockwave reached him.

'Damn it!' Piper dropped to the floor in frustration and exhaustion, every time she used her new power, it drained her energy greatly, and she wasn't any closer to controlling it, which made her angry, which led to her creating another fissure, it was a horrible cycle of events that wouldn't stop.

Leo orbed in next to his distressed wife and knelt down beside her, putting a comforting arm around her.

'It's alright honey, you'll get the hang of it… eventually,' he looked around the arena, which was now a collection of holes and large cracks in the ground, Piper had destroyed the entire place in half an hour!

'Leo, this isn't getting any better! I'm a danger to everyone right now! I can't even get angry without opening up the ground the sending someone to the earths core!' the ground shook slightly at her raised voice and she sighed and cuddled into Leo even more.

'Piper, remember when you first got your phasing power? You were afraid of phasing through the ground and ending up six feet under with no way out? It's the same here,' he took her hand 'That fear is what is holding you back, you just have to learn to control it, just like you did with your other powers,'

She sighed 'But it's like I have to relearn my powers all over again, this new power has brought a power boost to my other ones,' that was true, her freezing range had widened, along with the time she could keep something frozen, her exploding power was a like a rocket launcher now, and she could make other things invisible, as long as she was touching them during her invisibility. Her massing and phasing had improved also, she could selectively mass parts of her body, and she could now phase things that she was touching.

'Piper, I believe in you. A new power isn't going to beat you, it's going to make you stronger,'

'You're right. I know you're right, but it's just so hard,' she complained

Leo smiled at her and pulled her to her feet 'C'mon, why don't we go home and relax? It's time for the boys bed time anyway, Wyatt needs his sleep for his first day at magical pre school'

She smiled at him gratefully and wearily 'That sounds good, although I don't think I'm going to be very good company, I'll probably fall asleep soon,'

'That's fine with me,' he wrapped his arms around her as she laid her head on his chest, they prepared to orb out and get the boys when Emma came through the door.

'Hey guys! Oh, sorry, bad time?'

'No, it's alright, we were just going to get the boys,' Piper replied.

'Okay, I won't keep you for long, I just wanted to give you this,' she handed the book to Piper 'This might help you with your new power,'

Piper quickly scanned the book and read the first paragraph of the geokinesis chapter out loud.

'Many of the witches who possess this power think that they need to start off the with the big manifestations of their power, like causing earthquakes or opening fissures, but this wrong. Until you have control over the small things, the harder abilities will never be within your grasp. As a starting practice, try making a plant grow, once you have mastered this skill, slowly work your way up and eventually, you will be an accomplished geokinesis master!' Piper looked up from the book 'This might actually help, thanks,'

'No problem! Now you guys go and enjoy the rest of your night, okay?'

'Sure, thanks again!' the couple orbed out and Emma left the room.

* * *

'Hey! Look! I found something!' Paige said triumphantly.

'What is it?' Aidan asked her from the bottom of the ladder.

She looked down at him 'It's nothing on our evil twins, but it's something on that mystery demon you vanquished in the parking lot, remember?'

'What's it say?' he asked her as she came down from the top shelf

'Well, it doesn't mention our shrieking friend directly, but it does say something about demonic hybrids,'

'Let's see,' Aidan shared the book with Paige

'Apparently, there is a special type of sorcerer called demon tamers, these beings specialise in merging different breeds of demons together. It says that each demon tamer had it's own symbol, like, to show that this is their creation, and that they mark their demons with it. There's a list of emblems here,' she tapped the page of the book.

'Well, we'll do more research tomorrow, but do you say we go home and- Paige?' Aidan stared at her; she looked as if she was looking at something off into the distance.

'Piper's calling,' she said simply

'She might be being attacked by our buddy here,' Aidan replied

'Let's go,' they orbed and splashed out.

* * *

Piper jumped behind the sofa to avoid being hit by a fireball, which ended up blowing up her couch. She contained her anger, knowing that if she let loose, she would probably open up a fissure in her living room; she resorted to calling for Paige.

Leo came down the stairs and threw a lightning bolt and the demon; it sent it flying into he sunroom, just as Paige and Aidan appeared.

'Paige, go and get the crystals!' Aidan shouted over the noise of the fight. She nodded and orbed out while Leo and Aidan began to fight.

'Shall we?' Leo sparked electricity from his hands

'We shall,' the two men blasted water and lightning at the demon, the water was electrically charged which left it crumpled on the ground.

Paige orbed in carrying the box of crystals, she quickly made a circle with them and trapped the demon. She went over to help Piper up from the floor, who was obviously fuming, judging from her red face.

'Are you okay?' Paige asked her cautiously

'Yes. I am fine. Now, if you'll excuse me,' she straightened up her clothes 'I'm going… to make… a flower grow,'

She stormed through to kitchen and slammed the door to the garden on her way out. Leo went after and Aidan began interrogating the demon.

'Uh… Could you go get the Book Of Shadows for me please?' Paige asked him nicely 'I want to see if there's anything on demon tamers in there,'

Aidan nodded and ran up the stairs, taking two at a time. Paige noticed something around the demons neck, as soon as he saw her eyeing it, he put his hand over it, and it was obviously something he wanted to hide.

'Sorry, but that won't help you, necklace!' there was a light coming from under the creatures hand and the necklace reappeared in Paige's hand, surrounded by orbs.

She held it up to the light to see if she could identify the emblem on it, but as she raised it to the light, Aidan's voice startled her.

'Paige! Get up here! Quick!' at the call of her distressed boyfriend, she quickly ran up the stairs to the attic.

* * *

'What the hell?!' Paige surveyed the scene, Aidan just ducked and rolled out of the way of a large blast of electricity, it had come from a teenage girl in the middle of the room, she had long dark brown hair, and had tanned skin.

'Get the hell out of my house!' the girl was shouting. A stray bolt of lightning flew at Paige, who had barely enough time to deflect it telekinetically.

'Paige! A little help here?! Electricity doesn't really agree with me!' Aidan shouted over the crackle of voltage.

'Uh… right!' Paige waved her arm aggressively, and sent the girl flying into a pile of cardboard boxes that were in the corner.

'Who is she?' Aidan cautiously approached the girl, who was a little dazed.

'I don't know, but we're gonna find out,' Paige walked over the boxes.

'We?! Oh no! I'm not going anywhere near her until her powers are bound or until I'm in a rubber suit!'

'Oh, stop being a baby!'

The girl looked at Paige 'Huh? Aunt Paige? Did you do that to me?'

At the word 'aunt' Paige quickly called for Piper and Leo, who were already halfway there, as they had come to see what all the noise was about.

'Shh! The boys are sleep-ing, who the hell is that?' Piper said, pointing at the dazed teenager in the mountain of cardboard.

'Wait a minute… you guys don't recognise me?' she girl stood up, brushing down her clothes.

'Well, judging how you just tried to kill my boyfriend, I'd say you're a foe!' Paige glared at her.

'Boyfriend? Aren't you married to… what have I done?'

* * *

'Well, she's telling the truth,' Emma informed the Paige, it was now early morning, they had called Emma to help with the girl that appeared in their attic. It may have been 6:30 in the morning, but Emma had been happy to help, Piper and Paige agreed that she had become a real asset to their cause.

'Okay, but we still don't know how she got here?' Paige replied wearily, Piper had gone to bed earlier because she was going into Magic School for Wyatt's first day, and with Anastasia playing P3 that night, she had a lot to do and needed her energy.

So far, they had found out the girl's name was Persia, and that she was Phoebe's daughter and she was what she called 'A Child Of Light' which apparently had enough power to go toe to toe with the Charmed Ones, and her cousins, the Blessed Ones. Nor Emma or Paige knew what all these were, but they determined to get to the bottom of it.

'So, what's the last thing you remember before attacking Aidan in the attic?' Emma asked her, she had some patience left, as she had not been awake as long as Paige.

'Well,' the girl sat on her hands 'All the adults had went out to the club, and I was in charge of looking after my cousins for the night… Oh no! My cousins! I left them alone!' she stood up, not knowing what she was going to do about her situation.

'Don't worry! Paige and I are working on it! Just, continue your story' Paige smiled; Emma was close to losing it.

'Well, I… remember experimenting with potions and then, I was… here,' she said simply.

Piper walked down the stairs, stifling the yawn with her hand.

'Morning, oh, you still here?' Piper said sweetly.

'That's not a very nice thing to say to your niece from an alternate reality,' Paige scolded her sarcastically

Emma sighed 'Paige, you go to bed, you've been up all night. I don't have any classes till the afternoon, so I can do research and figure out a way to get Persia home,' she turned to Piper 'Piper, be with your son. Today's special, so go, leave this to me,'

'What about our friend over there,' Piper tilted her head towards the demon in the cage.

'Oh, crap! I forgot to tell you!' Paige announced before she walked up the stairs 'We need the Power Of Three to vanquish the demon tamer, I checked the book,'

Emma stood up 'I have an idea about that, just go and get some rest,' she guided Paige towards the staircase and turned back to see Piper staring at her 'What?'

'I feel guilty about dumping all this stuff on you,' Piper told her.

Emma smiled 'What are friends for? Besides, you've got a lot going on today, and Paige is here if I need any help and I'm sure Persia a good enough witch to help, right?' she looked at the teenager on the sofa, she had fell asleep!

Piper laughed 'I'll be home at lunchtime to help you, okay?'

Emma nodded and watched Piper go up the stairs, but she turned around midway and spoke 'Oh! And could you look after Chris?'

Emma sighed, but smiled 'Sure,'

* * *

Emma was sitting in front of the Book Of Shadows in the attic, crumpled pieces of paper were lying around, all of them had failed spells written on them, not to mention and countless jars of potion ingredients that lay on the table, surrounding the pot. Emma was sleeping soundly, with her head resting on her arms, which were resting on the demon tamer page of the Book Of Shadows.

Paige walked into the attic, stretching from her nap. She gently shook Emma and she woke up with a piece of paper sticking to the side of her face.

'You okay?' Paige asked her.

'Uh… yeah,' she pealed the piece of paper off her face and handed it to Paige 'That's the tamer vanquishing spell, it should work if I'm there to help you and Piper,' she looked around drowsily 'Um… I wrote a spell to open a portal to Persia's home, it should be around somewhere,'

Paige lay a sympathetic hand on her friends shoulder 'You didn't need to do this, you know,' she picked up a sheet of paper 'This it?'

Emma squinted her eyes ' Uh… yeah, that's it,' her eyes suddenly widened 'Oh my god! Chris!'

Paige laughed 'Don't worry, Persia's looking after him, apparently Piper has two girls in her world,'

Emma nodded, the fatigue showing on her face 'Look, go and have a lie down in Phoebe's room, Piper will be home soon and we'll kill the tamer and send Persia home,'

'Okay, sleep sounds nice at the moment,' she walked down the stairs and into Phoebe's room. She was just about to lie down when something shimmered in behind her and grabbed her, covering her mouth

'Not time for sleep yet, witch!' he whispered in her ear before shimmering out along with Emma.

* * *

'I can't believe this!' Piper read the note on the bed again; they had come into Phoebe's room to wake Emma, only to find that the demon tamer had kidnapped her.

'Well, we have to go get her!' Paige exclaimed.

'We will, but we can't go into the underworld without a plan, we need to think of something!' Piper shouted back.

'Actually,' the sisters spun round to see Persia in the doorway 'Emma made vanquishing potions for the demon hybrids, she tested it on the one downstairs, all that's left of that demon a scorch mark, she made a batch, they're in the kitchen,'

'Okay, but what about the tamer?' Piper asked

It was Paige's turn to answer 'She wrote a vanquishing spell for him, she was really confident it would work too,' Paige waved the spell at Piper 'That a good enough plan?'

Piper sneered at her sister and went to get ready for a battle.

* * *

_Ugh… where am I?_ Emma tried to look with her blurred vision, but to no avail. All she heard was a voice

'You know, I'm only keeping you alive so that your sisters will come for you,'

_Sisters? He thinks I'm a Charmed One?_ Emma's thoughts shrieked in her head.

The voice spoke again 'Won't be long until- what?'

He sounded surprised; Emma could hear explosions and screams of anguish from the demons that were outside. There was a loud crash and a breeze as the iron door to the cavern was broken through.

'What happened to my creations?' he asked someone with a pleading voice.

'Your groupies?' it was Piper's voice 'We killed them,'

'And we're about to do the same thing to you,' Paige's voice rang out.

Emma's vision came back just in time to see the tamer fly across the room, no doubt Paige's doing. The sisters came over to her and unbound the shackles around her.

'You got the spell?' Emma asked them

'Of course!' Piper rustled in her pocket and held out the paper

'Creator of the foulest forms

Feel the wrath of our scorn

We send you now, to hell's fires

As you demise is our desire,'

The demon began to scream in pain and spin uncontrollably until he exploded. Emma stumbled and leaned onto Piper for support.

'Nice spell,' Paige complemented her

Emma breathed a laugh 'Thanks,'

* * *

'Leo? Could you get that box for me?' Emma asked the elder that was standing at the back of the car. After their 'Power Of Three' vanquish, Piper and Paige decided that it would be safer if Emma moved in with them. She had been reluctant, asking what would happen if Phoebe came back but they had just told her that if Phoebe accomplished the goal of her journey, she probably wouldn't want to live with them anymore. She had accepted, and since the place she lived in was a minuscule dump, she thought it would be a nice change of scenery.

She passed Piper on the stairs to the house; they were going back and forward, getting all of Emma's stuff out of the car. As she passed the front garden, Piper glared at a sprout in the soil, and was ecstatic when it became a blossoming flower in front of her very eyes.

* * *

The girls were sitting in a booth in P3, the crowd was large and the place seemed to be packed! Piper, Paige and Emma sat around the table, making toasts

Paige held up her bottle of water 'To Piper! For finally getting some control over her new power!' three bottles met in the middle.

Emma was next 'To Paige! For finally taking a day off! Even if it was to sleep and fight demons!' there was a chinging sound again.

Piper raised her glass 'And to Emma! For making the brave decisionto live with an elder, a couple of witches and two little boys! I hope you're happy here,'

'Oh! Here, here!' Paige replied as their bottles met for a third time.

They turned their attention to the stage, where Rex, P3's manager, was announcing their guest.

'Ladies and Gentlemen! Please, give it up for… Anastasia!' the crowd went wild as the blond pop star appeared on the stage and began to sing, as the new, temporary Power Of Three watched on.

* * *

Did you like that? I hope you did! I'll do a Jesse and Lexa chapter AS WELL! Think of it as my Christmas present to you lol!

Chapter 15 'Lexa's Secret' will be up after Christmas Day!


	15. Lexa's Secret

Since it's Christmas, I'm in a giving mood, so I've wrote a L & J (Lexa and Jesse) chapter _and_ a P & P chapter! Think of it as my Christmas present to you!

**Lexa's Secret**

Lexa had once again left Sanctuary; she did this on a weekly basis every Thursday afternoon. Jesse had had enough of her secrets, so he decided to follow her.

She was now walking down the busy street; Jesse was hiding in the odd doorway just to make sure she didn't see him. She walked down into an alley _Oh great; this looks dodgy_ Jesse thought as he followed Lexa's footsteps. He turned a corner to see that she was gone! Jesse looked around for any place she might have went into. There was a blinding flash was caused Jesse to cover his eyes, and when he brought his hands down, Lexa was looking at him.

'Okay, I ignored you for the first 5 blocks, but now I want to know why you're following me,' Lexa stated.

'I wasn't following you,' Jesse answered

'Oh really?' she raised her eyebrows 'Jess, I'm the one who's good at being invisible, not you, and if you weren't following me, why are you in this alleyway? Were you hungry?' she looked over to the rotting pile of food that was surrounded by flies.

'Alright, I was following you, but I just wanted to know where you go every Thursday afternoon,'

Lexa sighed and grabbed his hand 'You wanna know? Let's go,' she pulled him out of the alleyway and back onto the street.

* * *

'This is how you spend your Thursday afternoons?' Jesse asked her, they had arrived at an auditorium where it seemed to be like a dancing club for old folks.

'Hey, don't knock it! These people helped me through a lot of hard times, they're great people,' Lexa answered with a smile.

'No, I'm not knocking it, it's just not what I expected from you,'

'What did you expect?'

'Hired hit woman…' Jesse muttered

Lexa hit him on the chest for the comment as a man came up them.

'Hey Lexa!' the old man greeted her, he had white hair and seemed to be balding, but for some reason, his eyes still had the sparkle of youth.

'Hi Marty!' she answered enthusiastically 'Care for a dance?'

'Of course, pumpkin,' he replied kindly

The two began to dance to the slow jazz music the band were playing, although it was more of a shuffle in Jesse's eyes, probably because of the shape the man was in.

Jesse smiled at Lexa, this was a side of her that he had never seen before, it was care free, fun and kind. He leaned against the wall and waited for the music to end, until then he just smiled at the sight in front of him.

He sat down at one of the tables, and watched as Lexa came over to sit down with him and Marty.

'So, Lexie, this your new boyfriend?' he asked with a grin

Jesse laughed as his face turned red 'Eh… no, although he wishes he does,' Lexa replied with a smirk.

'So, what you been up to?' he asked her.

'Oh, you know, same old, same old,' Lexa replied 'Marty, are you okay?' she noticed the conflicted look on the old mans face.

'Well… I…um…' he seemed hesitant to tell Lexa the truth.

'Uh… I'll leave the two of you alone for a while,' Jesse left the two alone; as it was obvious this was going to be a private conversation.

'Lexa, I'm in trouble,'

'What?' Lexa took the old mans hand 'What's wrong?'

He sighed 'Some goons have been after me for the past week, I think they're after the papers from the company,'

'What? Why would anyone want to hunt down an old man for that?'

'Oh thanks!' Marty answered with a chuckle 'Anyway, they must want it bad, because when I got home yesterday, my place had been trashed. They had obviously scoured the place for them, but they didn't find anything, I've got them right here,' he tapped his chest, indicating that he had something in the inside pocket of his cardigan.

'Why didn't you contact me? They could have killed you! Ever since Leo died you're the closest thing to family I have! You're like a grandfather to me!' Lexa pleaded with the man.

He smiled 'Because I knew you'd be down here today, you never miss a dance with an old man,' his answer was filled with compassion for the young woman he had known for so long,'

Lexa sighed at his answer, then looked at Jesse 'I'll be right back, okay? Don't leave my sight!' Lexa warned Marty with a shaky finger and a smirk.

'I'm not going anywhere,' he replied.

She walked over to Jesse, who currently being ogled at by all the old women. He had a red face and he was looking at his shoes when Lexa came over to him.

'Look, I need a favour,' she began 'I need your help, but it's personal. All I ask is that you don't ask any questions and trust me, okay?'

He sighed at her 'I already trust you, and I'll help you out with anything you need, but first, we gotta get your friend outta here,'

'Why?'

'Because those suits at the door seem to be eying him, and I don't think they're looking for a dance,'

Lexa turned round to see that Jesse was right, they had sunglasses and dark trench coats, and were looking and pointing at the frail old man sitting at the table. The two mutants ran over to the table and quickly pointed out the men to Marty.

'Yes! That's them! I can see the bruise I gave one of them when I swung by baseball bat at him,' even in the tense situation, Jesse laughed at the old mans vigour, he was very energetic.

Lexa guided the old man towards the fire exit; Jesse exited last in case the goons got violent.

'Jess, please say you brought the Helix when you followed me,' Lexa hoped for the answer.

'Yeah, but we're gonna need to do some running and well…'

'You don't think I'm up it,' Marty finished off.

'Well… yeah,' Jesse answered guiltily

'Alright then, what do suggest we do?' Lexa put her hands on her hips and stared at her teammate. Jesse pondered over their options, them came to a solution.

'Okay, get to the top of that building,' he pointed at the structure in the other side of the road 'I'll pick you up there, if those guys catch up, just fight them off, okay?'

Marty gave him a shocked look 'My little Lexie can't fight! She can't even hold a gun properly!'

Jesse smirked the dark haired woman, who's expression said 'leave it,' so he did.

'Trust me, she'll be fine! Lexa will make sure you're alright, she great when it comes to these sort of things!'

Lexa began to make her way towards the building, leaving Jesse to wonder if he just seen her blush.

* * *

They were almost at the top of the building, but were forced to stop when Marty collapsed in the stairwell.

'Leave me Lexie… save yourself…' he breathed.

She looked down the stairwell to the men were on their tail, it wouldn't be long before they were on the same level, she would have to fight. Lexa made a mental note not to use her powers; she didn't want her 'grandfather' to know she was a freak.

She grabbed the railings of the stair banister and prepared for battle. She made quick work of the first guy, using the railings for support; she jumped up and kicked the man in the face, sending him back down the stairs he had come up. When the other two saw this, they pulled out guns and prepared to fire in the mutant and man. Lexa decided she had use her powers, she first created a dazzle so that Marty wouldn't see, then fired high powered lasers and the men, blasting them back into the wall. Lexa put Marty over her shoulder and climbed the last flight of stairs.

She kicked the door to the roof open and was glad to see the Helix was already there. _Trust Jess to come through_ she thought as the stairwell to the plane opened up.

'Alright Jesse, get this bird in the air!' she shouted at the man in the pilots seat.

'Yes Ma'am!' he said jokingly as he retracted the stairwell and prepared for the take off. Just as the Helix began to take off, the goons burst through the roof access door and started of fire at the jet. Jesse just laughed when he could hear the bullets bouncing off the exterior, causing no damage. He stopped laughing when he saw Lexa knelt down beside Marty, who was buckled into one of the chairs.

'He okay?'

'Yeah,' Lexa replied 'I think it was all just a bit too much for him,'

'Understandable at his age… look, I know I said I wouldn't ask any questions, but I think I should know the basics if I'm going to be of any use,' Jesse asked cautiously, knowing that one wrong word could set Lexa off.

She sighed ' I'll explain when we get to Sanctuary,' she replied simply.

* * *

Once they had got home, Jesse had placed Marty in the lab and ran a series of tests to make sure that the elderly man was alright. Lexa had been sitting with him, holding his hand all the way through Jesse's tests. Marty began to regain consciousness and the first thing he saw was Lexa. He tried to speak, but Lexa shushed him and told him to get some rest. She walked over to Jesse ready to explain everything.

'Why were they after him?'

Lexa was surprised at Jesse's bluntness; usually he would wait for her to explain.

'They are after documents that he had from when he worked at Genomex,' she answered, bracing herself for her comrade's reaction.

'Genomex?! He worked in Genomex?!' Jesse calmed himself after his outburst 'Sorry, so, why do they want these documents?'

'Marty worked on the flaw of our witch genes, the fact that we can't cast spells like Phoebe and Brennan,'

Jesse raised his head 'Did he get anywhere?'

'He was close, but as soon as he found out that his findings could hurt innocent people, he left the company and took his research with him,'

'That was pretty risky, not many people quit Genomex, alive at least,'

'Yeah, I know, I never thought they would come after him though,' her eyes began to well up with tears.

'Hey…' Jesse got up from his seat and wrapped his arms around his grieving friend. She cried into his shoulder gratefully, before composing herself and wiping her eyes. Jesse knew she wouldn't want to dwell on her moment of weakness, so he got back to business.

'I take it you now have the papers?'

'Yeah, I put them in my jacket pocket when I was in the Helix,' she replied

'Okay, get them out, and tell me when Marty wakes up, I'm going to need his help,' he towards another part of the lab.

'What are you going to do?' Lexa asked

Jesse turned back round to face her 'Look, we may be able to handle the odd goon now and again, but we've always needed a born witch around to help, and your grandfather has gotten himself into a pretty deep hole,'

'You still haven't told me what you're going to do,' Lexa complained

He began to walk off again 'Just start writing spells Lexa, because by tonight, our rhymes are going to be a lot more than just nice sounding words,'

Lexa's eyes widened at his answer, he was going make them full witches!

* * *

'Hmm… it's still not going to work,' Jesse looked at the screen with a disappointed look, Marty and him had been trying for hours to perfect the gene stabilization process, but to no avail.

'Bring up that deLauro's file again, would you, son?' Marty asked. A previous Mutant X member, Emma deLauro, was the only witch documented, who had the power to cast spells. It had been revealed to the team that Emma had a lot more hidden talents to her psionic powers than she had been telling and she decided to leave so that she wouldn't have to fight and use her more dangerous powers.

Jesse complied and tapped something into the touch panel in his hand; Emma's file came up again, hopefully with some useful information. Lexa walked into the room, she had been trying to find out anything about the goons that had attacked them. She had also been writing spells, getting ready to test them out once Jesse gave her the signal. Lexa had surprised herself that day, not only had she opened up more of her world to her blond co-worker, he had comforted her and understood her in her time of need. The other thing that surprised her was that she was actually excited about the act that she might be casting spells soon!

Hey, had any luck?' she asked with a hint of hope in her voice.

'Almost there Lexie!' Marty answered enthusiastically

'Yeah. All we need to do is run this through the simulation and it should fine. How about you?'

'Well, I tested the blood I had on my shoe after kicking that guy in the face, and apparently he was hired,'

'Hired?' Jesse's eyes widened.

'Yeah, and I had a look at his background, most of the time he's escaped a sentence because of a technicality, but he must a friend in a high place, because a lot of these crimes don't go away so easily,'

'Wow, someone's did their homework,' Jesse mocked her.

Lexa gave him a saucy smile 'Why, yes I have, and I even found the location of this guys employer,'

'Really?' He answered in a surprised tone.

'Yes, so if we take him out, we get Marty his life back,' Lexa smiled at the older man.

Marty smiled 'Lexie, what would I do without you?'

'Oh, you would manage, you're a fighter,' she hugged the man.

'Alright,' Jesse picked up the ray gun that would fire the stabilization beam 'You ready Lexa?'

'Lexa?' Marty gave him a funny look 'Why would she try it out? Unless she was a mut-,' Marty stopped in mid-sentence and stared at her.

Lexa ignited the lasers of the tips of fingers to prove his suspicions true, and looked at him with apologetic eyes. Marty then broke out into a small smile 'I always knew you were special, sweetheart, I guess I didn't realise how special,'

Everyone got in position as the Jesse loaded up the gun 'You ready?' he asked her.

'As ready as I'll ever be,' was her answer.

He nodded and fired the gun; a faint orange light came from the end and hit Lexa in the stomach. She stumbled back slightly, but regained her balance and took and rest of the blast.

'Okay,' Jesse put the gun down 'Try it out,'

Lexa raised her eyes, as if she were trying to remember something, she then clicked and held out her hand.

'Hopefully now, I have the power

Give to me, a blooming flower,'

There was a small glow in Lexa's hand and a bright red rose lay in her palm after the light diminished.

'Wow… it worked!' she said triumphantly.

* * *

After blasting Jesse with the ray, both were experimenting with their new power, until Marty stopped them.

'You guys, shouldn't you be finding the person who's trying to kill me?' he said lightly.

'Oh God! Sorry Marty! We just got a little caught up,' Lexa apologised.

'Uh-huh, c'mon let's go!' he made his way towards the garage.

'Uh… wait a minute, you're not going!' Lexa grabbed his arm and Jesse walked in

'Oh yes I am! I want to know who's after me! I'll wait in the car if that will make you feel better!' he replied

'Hmm… was he the one who taught you how to be stubborn?' Jesse asked Lexa jokingly.

'No, it's just a gift,' Lexa answered as they headed towards the garage.

* * *

'Okay, remember, wait here, got it?' Lexa told her 'grandfather' again, they were sitting in the car outside the building where Lexa had traced the hitmans employer.

'Yeah, yeah,' Marty sneered.

'Okay, love you,' Lexa said as she stepped out the car.

'Love you too,' he answered.

The two Mutant X members walked down the alleyway to the entrance of the building, but stopped when they saw the goons standing at the door, fully armed.

'What are we going to do? I can't protect from that amount of bullets!' Jesse whispered to her.

'We use our new power,' Lexa replied simply.

She walked out from behind the dumpster, but just enough so she wouldn't be seen.

'You do the honours,' she said to Jesse. He complied and began thinking of a spell

'Take way their weapons of hate

Do it now with no debate,'

The guns exploded in their hands, leaving the goons shocked at what just happened. This gave Jesse and Lexa the perfect opportunity to take them out with their martial arts skills.

'Okay, you ready to face whoever's behind that door?' Jesse asked

'More than ready,' she said, full of determination

she blasted through the door and run in, with Jesse close behind, but both stopped when they realised that it was Gabriel Ashlocke behind the door.

* * *

'Oh my God…' Lexa whispered

'Not quite,' Gabriel laughed at her.

Both mutants went on the offensive, Lexa fired lasers from both her hands and Jesse massed out his arm and hit a large crate at the super mutant. Their attempts were futile as Gabriel reflected the lasers into the wall and hit the crate with an energy blast. Once the wooden debree had cleared from the air, Gabriel spoke again.

'Now, is that a nice way to say hello?' he said with a smirk

'Shut up!' Lexa shouted venomously

'Oh, c'mon, you haven't even heard what I'm going to say,'

'So talk,' Jesse's voice was a low rumble

'Certainly, gave me your grandpa's research, and I won't kill him,'

Lexa laughed at the mutant 'Gimme a break, you won't be getting to him anytime soon,'

'Is that a 'no' then?'

Lexa smirked and nodded her head.

'That's a shame, I guess he's just gonna have to get to himself,' Ashlocke closed his eyes and looked as if he was concentrating. Lexa suddenly realised what he was doing and was just in time to the see and effects.

Ashlocke took over Marty's mind and forced him out of the car and into the busy street. Lexa left the building just in time to see Marty get hit by an oncoming car, and hit the ground. Hard.

'Noooo!' Lexa screamed as she ran out into the street to tend to her last family link. Jesse was quickly following, getting out his phone and calling for an ambulance.

They had been at the hospital for 4 hours; it was edging on 1 in the morning. Lexa has fell asleep on Jesse's shoulder, exhausted from crying, but she awoke as soon as the doctor came out of Marty's room.

'How is he?' Lexa asked him, wiping away tears from earlier.

The doctor sighed 'His spine is badly damaged, and the accident has caused some brain damage, and because of his age, a lot of his bones have been broken. He is being maintained by machines right now,'

Lexa put a hand over her mouth and began to cry into Jesse's chest again. The doctor spoke again once she had stopped.

'On his file, he's put you in charge of a decision like this, what do you want to do?' he asked her softly.

Lexa looked at the white floor and then back up at the doctor 'Keep him,'

'Lexa…' Jesse began

'No! I mean, there are medical breakthroughs everyday, maybe someday they'll cure his brain damage,' her voice was high pitched and fast. She stormed down a corridor leaving the doctor with a neutral expression on his face, he dealt with this everyday.

'Just give a minute with her…' Jesse followed Lexa after talking to the doctor. He caught up with her; she was leaning on the wall, staring into space.

'Lexa…'

'Jess! Just, don't!' she shouted

'Will you just listen to what I have to say?' Jesse pleaded

She closed her eyes and sighed, Jesse took this as a yes 'He's dying, Lexa,' her eyelids tightened even more 'He's hurt, he's in pain and right now, it' s because of machines that he's still alive,'

Lexa glared at him, he decided to round things up

'What I'm trying to say is, give him his dignity. Don't drag his death out and keep him in pain just because you can't bare to lose him… I now it's hard… and I know you don't want him to die, but I also know you don't want him to be in pain…'

Lexa began to cry again as Jesse brought his arms around her and cradled her. She slowly walked back down the hall and told the doctor her decision.

Her tears were still flowing 'Can I at least say goodbye?' she pleaded

The doctor looked up from the board he was looking at and gave a kind expression 'Of course,'

Lexa entered the room and told Marty how much she loved and how much she would miss him, and that he was to say 'hi' to Leo for her. She took his hand and kissed his forehead as she gave the nurse the signal to pull the plug.

* * *

It was 3:30, and Jesse still couldn't get a wink of sleep, he kept thinking about everything that had happened that day, especially Ashlocke and what he had done to Lexa's grandfather. After they had got home from the hospital, Lexa had locked herself in her room and hadn't come out at all, Jesse thought that she blamed him for what happened to Marty, and maybe it was this supposed guilt that was keeping him awake.

There was a creak at his door and the Lexa appeared, she was dressed in yoga pants and her spaghetti strap pyjama top. Tears were still streaming down her face as she entered and room and made eye contact with Jesse. Jesse wordlessly pulled back the sheets and Lexa clambered in next to him, he realised that all she wanted was to not feel alone. He pulled the covers back over himself and her, and wrapped his arms around the trembling form next him. He kissed and top of her head and stroked her hair, calming her down and helping her fall into the peaceful sleep.

* * *

That was a little heavy, but I had to do something to make Jesse and Lexa's relationship grow.

Please. Please, please, please review! And if you are a reviewer, tell anyone who might be interested in this story to come and review as well!

Chapter 16 'The Vacation's Over' will be up soon!


	16. The Vacation's Over

Where have all my reviewers gone? I'm making this plea again! Please review if you're reading this story and if you're a loyal reviewer (Princess Pinky, wyatt333) please tell anyone who might be interested about this fic!  
Okay, I'm done sounding desperate; let's get on with the story!

**The Vacation's Over**

Phoebe was silently floating over the large boulder in the haven that she'd found in the forest. Ever since she had discovered it, she would come down here before sunrise and meditate until the sum came up between the two large hills in the distance. This little ritual of hers was beginning to annoy Brennan, as he would wake up to an empty bed each morning, but she figured it was better this way because if they wanted to stay a secret, it was better that she was out of his room before anyone else realised she had been there. A thin smile played on Phoebe's lips, as she sensed a familiar presence approaching.

'How many times do I have to tell you,' she opened her eyes to look at Brennan 'You can never sneak up on me,'

Brennan stopped and grinned at her 'You won't admit it, but I almost got you that time,'

'I you had, I would have lost my concentration and fell into the water,' she retorted with a saucy smile.

'I would enjoy that, because not only would I have proven that you can be sneaked up on, you'd be all wet and you'd have to cuddle up to me for warmth,'

'Hmm… the second part sound nice…' she slowly descended to stand next to him, only stumbling slightly when she landed.

'Hey,' she whispered and planted a kiss on his lips.

'Mmm… as much as I'm enjoying this, Jesse called, he said he needed us back. Now.'

'Wow, Lexa drove him insane this quickly? I would have thought he would hold out for at least another week,' Phoebe joked.

'Well, we only had two days left anyway, so what's the difference?' he put his arms around her waist.

'I guess so,' Phoebe rested her head on his chest as he pulled her into a hug and stroked her hair.

'C'mon, we need to go back to the house and pack,' they walked back hand in hand, enjoying the beautiful scenery of the forest, until Phoebe began to feel sick.

'You okay?' Brennan asked her, his voice filled with concern

'Uh… yeah, I just moved too fast, go on, I'll catch up,' she assured him.

Brennan nodded and began to walk again. Once she was sure he was out of sight, Phoebe ran behind a tree and threw up her breakfast. She had been feeling nauseous since yesterday, that had been the main reason she couldn't stand the smell of the delicious spread that Julie Mulwray had prepared for dinner last night.

She decided that she shouldn't move about so much, as she had felt better when she was meditating and staying still. Phoebe made a mental note for Jesse to check her out when they got home, and hoped it was nothing serious.

* * *

Nelle was helping pack, out of all the Mulwray sisters, Nelle had been the one Phoebe had bonded with the most. She allowed Phoebe to use her forest haven and she had also been a good person to talk to. Phoebe had spent many a night on the porch with all three sisters just chatting about anything!

Phoebe was sitting down on the bed folding everything, as getting up and emptying drawers would qualify as moving and could make her ill.

'You okay?' Nelle asked her, noticing that she was a little off today

'What? Oh… yeah! I'm fine!' Phoebe went back to folding the last of her tops.

Brennan walked in, with his bag slung over his shoulder, knowing, he had probably just threw everything into a bag and called that packing. He told them that he would be waiting in the car and left the room.

'Pheebs, are you sure you're okay?' Nelle asked again

'Nelle, trust me, I'm fine,' Phoebe replied with a weak smile.

* * *

Phoebe was saying her goodbyes to all the family members, she had already said farewell to all the children, who were sad to see her go.

She moved towards Ally, who greeted her with a hug.

'Thanks for looking after my wreck of a brother!' she said jokingly

'No problem!' Phoebe laughed back.

Sandra was next, she had helped Phoebe when they had been working on the farm and with the horses 'If you're ever bored, we could always use more help!' she replied

'I'll that in mind!' Phoebe laughed

'Hope you have a safe trip,' Nelle said as she hugged Phoebe.

'Thanks, for everything,' Phoebe replied

She went over to Brennan's mom, who greeted her with a smile and wrapped her arms around Phoebe.

'If he breaks your heart, you me know and I'll kick his ass,' Julie whispered into her ear.

Phoebe's eyes widened 'How did you…'

'Mother's know,' she tapped her nose with her index finger.

Phoebe smiled 'Thank you for opening your home to me,'

She clambered into the truck and waved at the Mulwrays before they disappeared from sight and they left the ranch. Phoebe huddled closer to Brennan as they were leaving, he put his arm around her and continued to drive along the dirt path to reach the long, straight road was took them home.

* * *

They stopped at the same gas station that they had stopped at on the way, Phoebe had been staying completely still, so it was only natural that she ended up falling asleep. Brennan gently shook her from her sleep to ask her if she wanted anything from the small shop.

'Uh… could you get me a bottle of water? And I think I have some anti-acid in my bag in the back, could you get that for me? My stomach's still not right,'

'You feeling okay?' he put his hand to her forehead

'I'm fine, just got an upset stomach, don't worry,' she smiled and gave him a light kiss on the lips.

He nodded, but was still unsure if she was telling the truth as he walked away. Phoebe sat up in the seat of the car with the packet of anti-acid in her hand, she didn't want to worry Brennan, but ever since she had had that premonition, she constantly felt light headed.

Brennan came back, after paying for the water and the gas. He climbed back into the truck and gave her an unsure look.

'You would tell me if something was wrong, wouldn't you?' he asked her

Phoebe sighed 'Of course I would, can I have that water?' she outstretched her hand, taking the plastic bottle from him.

They were back on the road, Phoebe had been silent for the rest of the trip, she was curled up in a ball and had her head leaning on the side window. Brennan would give her side-glances now and again; she was hiding something from him, but what?

Phoebe was silently trying to fight off the headache that had grown even worse, but thankfully, the nausea had lessened and all she had was a throbbing migraine. She had tried of sleep it off, but when she awoke it was still there and it was getting worse. Suddenly, the migraine disappeared, Phoebe an escalating feeling in her heart and she recognised this as the start of a premonition. She closed her eyes, preparing for the vision, but it never came, and the thing that was even stranger was that even though she didn't see anything, she knew what was going to happen.

'Brace yourself,' she said.

'What?' Brennan turned to look at her, but just as he did, there was an impact on his side of the car, which caused the engine to catch fire. Brennan was knocked out by the blast and Phoebe quickly pulled him out of the car to avoid the explosion. Brennan was bleeding badly from his head as Phoebe set him down on the desolate road. She looked around for their attacker, and was shocked when she revealed herself. It was a woman, same height as Phoebe, same hair colour as Phoebe, actually this was Phoebe!

'Don't you hate when a pyrokinetic evil witch attacks you on the road?' she smirked and played with the fire in her hand.

'Who are you?' Phoebe demanded

'Oh, haven't you guessed yet? I'm you! Well… the opposite of you, a better version of you,' the counterpart charged up a psionic blast and fired. Phoebe retaliated with the same power and both attacks met in the middle of the battleground, which caused a shockwave and sent both women to the ground.

'We may draw when it comes to our psionic blasts, but since your premonitions are the opposite of my fire power, I doubt they'll help against this!' the woman threw a large shot of fire at Phoebe, who rolled out the way. She instantly regretted her dodge as her nausea came back and she began to sway.

'Heh… this is gonna be easier then I thought,' the counterpart threw another barrage of flames, intending to finish Phoebe off. Phoebe realised that she was finished at closed her eyes and waited for the burning sensation to begin, but it never did.

She opened her eyes to find that some sort of electrical shield was impeding the fire! She could tell that her counterpart was just as surprised as she was. Phoebe looked over to Brennan, to see if he had caused it, but he was still unconscious. The fire subsided and the shield slowly shrank into nothing, leaving Phoebe open to attack. The woman prepared to fire again, but Phoebe took the initiative and ran at the woman, levitating and delivering a lethal front turn kick to her face.

'I'm not done yet…' the woman groaned, she fired another psi blast, which sent Phoebe flying. The counterpart kept her distance from Phoebe as she blasted more fire at her.

'That shield may have protected you the first time! But I bet you don't know how to use it again!' she shouted over the crackle of the flames.

Unfortunately, she was right, the shield never erected again, Phoebe put up her hands in a futile attempt of defence, but as she put her hands up, two massive bolts of electricity flew from her hands and diffused the oncoming fire and delivered serious damage to the woman.

Evil Phoebe decided she had had enough punishment for one day; she drank a potion and disappeared from sight. Phoebe looked down at her now shaky hands, where had that power surge come from? She realised she didn't have time to ponder as Brennan was still hurt.

She run over to him, it was like this was a bad dream, he was dying and she couldn't do anything about it. She couldn't use the revival spell again, as one person could only use it once. There was a haze of bright lights, they began forming in front of her and becoming the shape of a person, Phoebe was convinced that it was orbs, which could only mean a white lighter! Phoebe couldn't make out the persons face because of the darkness, but as the healing took effect, the glow from his hands illuminated his face, Phoebe gasped.

'Andy!?' she exclaimed

The white lighter looked up and his eyes widened 'Phoebe!? What are you doing here!?'

Before she could speak, there was a gasp from Brennan, indicating that he was awake.

* * *

The three stood around each other next to the burning wreck on Brennan's truck as questions began to fly.

'Phoebe, why are you here? Shouldn't you be with your sisters?'

'I took a break from the Charmed destiny, what about you? You shouldn't even be alive!' Phoebe exclaimed

'Isn't it obvious? They made me a white lighter! Something to do with sacrificing myself to save you and your sisters, and the reason I'm here is because _they_ give me 4 new charges and told me that one of the them needed my help,'

'4? Oh… wait a minute, do you think the other two are…' Phoebe looked to Brennan

'Lexa and Jesse. No doubt about it,' Brennan replied

'But that doesn't make any sense! How did they find them?' Phoebe turned to Andy now

'Actually, the Elders didn't know about their existence until a couple of days ago, there was a surge of power which is usually caused by a spell,'

'But Lex and Jess can't cast spells! That's the main reason they've managed to stay under the radar for so long!' Phoebe replied 'You know, let's settle this now, orb us home,'

'I don't think that will work, I cloaked Sanctuary, remember? He won't be able to find it,' Brennan spoke up

'But we know where it is! We'll guide him, c'mon!' she took Andy's and Brennan's hands and encouraged him to orb faster.

* * *

'When are Pheebs and Bren supposed to get back?' Lexa asked her teammate, she had barely left Jesse's side after losing Marty and was afraid of losing another person close to her heart.

'They should be here in the early hours of the morning. Relax! They'll be fine!' Jesse assured her. Both were sitting around the computers, after finding out that Gabriel Ashlocke was alive, they had been researching the internet, magical books that were lying around, they were even using their new spell power to help.

'Oh! I think I found something! There was a witch 300 years ago named Melinda Warren, she could move objects with her mind, see the future and stop time. Before Melinda was burned at the stake, she vowed that each generation of Warren witches would become stronger and stronger, culminating in the arrival of three sisters. These sisters would be the most powerful witches the world has ever known and would be known and feared by evil as the Charmed Ones…' Lexa trailed off as she looked up from the book.

'What's wrong?' Jesse enquired

'It's just that… I've seen this symbol before, on the front of Phoebe's dairy,' Lexa pointed to the symbol of a circle and three points meeting in the middle if the circle.

'That's all? Maybe Phoebe's just a fan of the Charmed Ones,' Jesse mocked

'And there's something that Brennan said…' She replied

'_What are you doing?' Lexa asked_

'_I'm updating the powers section on Phoebe's file,'_

'_I think we have everything, let's see, levitation, telepathy, empathy, and the ability to create and use a psionic blast, what do you think we're missing?'_

'_Telekinesis, Temporal Stasis or Clairvoyance, she has one of these powers, I'm just trying to figure out what one,'_

'_What makes you think she has one of them?'_

_Brennan looked at her; he looked as if he was going to tell her something, but then stopped 'Nothing, never mind…' he shut down the program and walked away._

'Oh my God…' Lexa breathed 'That would explain why she's so powerful…'

'I'm trying to catch on here, Lex, but I'm having a bit of trouble,'

'Don't you see? She's Charmed! Phoebe is a Charmed One!'

'I… was gonna tell you guys…'

Lexa and Jesse spun round to see Phoebe standing with Brennan and another man. Phoebe walked over to them and looked at the book.

'By the way, my power is to see into the future,' she said simply.

Lexa shook herself 'We'll talk about this later, but right now, we have a problem,'

'And a white lighter,' Brennan mumbled

'Bren,' Jesse began 'I've got two words for you, Gabriel, Ashlocke,'

Brennan's eyes widened as he heard the super mutants name 'Who's he?' Phoebe asked.

'Patient Zero,' Lexa informed her 'The first child of Genomex, they were still experimenting with witch genes at the time and they made him too powerful, and add super powers to a sociopath and it's not a good mix,'

'We killed him once before, but he's somehow alive again,' Jesse finished

Phoebe turned round to look at Andy 'Do you think evil me had anything to do with this?'

Andy folded his arms 'Maybe, but reviving evil beings is a lot harder than reviving good beings. If your counterpart was behind it, she would need more power…' his voice trailed off and he looked into space.

'What?' Phoebe asked.

'I was just thinking… if you have a counterpart, maybe your sisters do too,'

Phoebe nodded and was about to say something when her nausea hit her again, but she tried to cover up and ask her question, until Lexa cracked.

'Okay! This is too much to handle in one night! Why don't we talk about everything tomorrow? But first, who the hell are you?' she stared at Andy.

'Uh… I'm a white lighter; I'm like… a guardian angel for witches. A higher power located you and Jesse when you started to cast spells,'

Jesse gave him a confused look 'How do we now we can trust you?'

Phoebe stepped in 'Because not only did he save Brennan's life, but I know him, and I trust him completely… wait a minute, you guys cast a spell!?'

Lexa sighed 'See? This is what I mean! There's too much to talk about in one night! I think we should discuss this in the morning when we're not all tired,'

'I think you're right,' Brennan spoke 'There's so many things that need explaining, we need to rest if we're gonna take it all in,'

'Okay then, Good night!' Lexa stormed off to her room and slammed the door.

'What's up with her?' Phoebe asked

Jesse sighed 'I'll explain tomorrow,'

* * *

The sounds of a toilet flushing could be heard form the adjoining bathroom of Phoebe's bedroom. She had felt like this all yesterday and today and she didn't feel any better even though she was home. She kept thinking about the powers she used when fighting her counterpart, they had definitely been electricity based. She reminded herself that she had electric power in the future, but she doubted that it would be that powerful if she just got it, and then there was the feeling. She had had a feeling as soon as the shield appeared and she shot the lightning bolts, she felt like the powers weren't hers and the only time she had had this feeling before was when she had been pregnant. She put her hand over her stomach and decided it was time to find out for certain………

'Jess? Wake up!' Phoebe shook the tired molecular awake.

His eyes slowly opened 'Phoebe? It's 4 in the morning, what is it?' he rubbed his eyes.

'I think there's something wrong with me, could you do some tests?' Phoebe pleaded.

'At this time? Pheebs, what's wrong?'

'I don't know, which is why I'm asking for your help, I don't want Lexa and especially Brennan to know about this,'

'Umm… alright, meet me in the lab, okay?' He clambered out of his bed and pulled on his shirt.

'Thanks,' she walked out the room and walked over to the lab.

After about five minutes, Jesse appeared at the lab door, fully dressed but still a little groggy.

'Okay,' he rubbed his eyes 'I can't perform every test so you'll to narrow it down,'

'There's only one I want,' she answered 'A pregnancy test,'

* * *

Okay! What did you think? I thought I'd give Mutant X a white lighter seen as how they're full witches now. If you like my work, please check out my new story called 'What If' it's a 'what if Prue hadn't died' fiction, so please review if you're interested! I won't be updating as fast as usual as I have two stories going at the moment! Please review!

Chapter 17 'Power Struggle' will be up soon! 


	17. Power Struggle

Thanks to all those who have reviewed! I'm sorry it took longer than usual to update, but I was taking it easy with New Year and all! So I hope this chapter is worth the wait!

**Power Struggle**

The team decided that they needed a break; Jesse had discovered a new Jazz club in town. It was pretty quiet, which was why he had chosen it, ever since he had confirmed Phoebe's pregnancy, he had made sure that she was doing everything right, he made sure that she ate right, had the right amount of rest. He had even been to a doctor for some medication that would help her morning sickness, or as Phoebe liked to call it 'all day' sickness. There had been one thing that Phoebe had been annoyed about though, the fact that he wouldn't let her go on any missions. She had been complaining about cabin fever for so long, that he finally decided to let her leave Sanctuary. This is why all of them were sitting at a table in 'The Jazz Shack' but wasn't only for Phoebe's benefit, the rest of the team enjoyed the relaxing mood of the place.

'This place is great, Jess, it's real easy on the eyes,' Brennan was right; the place was dimly lit by small candles on each table and a medium sized spotlight on the stage.

'That's why I picked it, I didn't any of us were in the mood for raves tonight, so this is just what we needed,' he glanced at Phoebe.

The waitress came round and asked if they wanted anything to drink, this was what Phoebe had been dreading.

'Hey Pheebs, you wanting a beer?' Brennan asked.

'Uh…' she looked at the waitress 'Can I just have a glass of orange juice please?'

'Sure,' the waitress smiled and wrote the order down on her pad 'I'll be back with your drinks in a minute,' she walked away to the bar.

'You okay?' Brennan asked her, Phoebe had been acting slightly off ever since they had returned from the country.

Phoebe sighed, was she that obvious? If she had a dollar for every time she'd heard that question in the past two weeks, she'd have enough money to buy those sling backs she had had her eye on for a while.

'I'm fine,' she replied quite snappily. The lights centred on the stage as the band came on.

The group sipped their drinks as the band on the stage was playing a series of chill out songs.

'C'mon, you,' Phoebe tapped Brennan's arm 'Let's dance,' the two walked on to the dance floor to join other couples. Lexa moved closer to Jesse, in order to strike up a conversation.

'So, do you think something happened between them in the country?' Lexa asked. Jesse didn't know how to answer this, so he answered it as best as he could 'Yes,'

Lexa raised her eyebrows 'You sound sure, did Brennan tell you anything?'

_No, Phoebe did_ he thought, but Lexa was giving him a funny look as he had been staring into space 'Oh, it's just a feeling,' he rose his glass to his lips on indicate their conversation was over.

* * *

'Phoebe, I'm really tired, can't we go to bed now?' Jesse whined. Phoebe and Jesse where training in the Dojo, it was around 3 in the morning. Unfortunately, this was the only time they could do it without raising suspicions. According to Jesse's research, the only way to stop the baby from channelling its powers through Phoebe was if she had daily regular use of her powers.

'Jess, just a couple more blasts and we'll call it a day… or night,' an empathic burst glowed in front of her forehead as she spoke 'Besides, you were the one who said I had to do this if I wanted to keep the baby from using its electrical powers that it got from its Daddy,'

'Yeah, about that, you won't be able to hide it for much longer. It'll probably be in a month when you start showing a gut,' Jesse laughed.

'Despite, that _insensitive_ joke,' she glared at him 'You're right, I have to tell Brennan about the baby soon,' she looked up 'But until then, I need to use my powers in the dead of the night,'

'Can't you use your other powers to train by yourself? Constantly massing like this can't be good for me,'

'Are you kidding? It'll just make you stronger. Now come on, just a couple more times and you can get your beauty sleep, God knows you need it,' she smirked.

'Very funny, alright, show me what you got,'

'Gladly,' Phoebe turned away from Jesse, then turned back and fired the blast in the process. Jesse massed out and absorbed the blast, without taking any injuries. A second blast was dancing in front of her as soon as the first hit its target 'Okay, one more time and we're done,' Phoebe turned her head again, but as she fired, the little glowing bulb erupted into large, concentrated beam. The beam broke through Jesse's massed armour and sent him flying, and the force from firing something so strong sent Phoebe in the other direction.

Jesse got up off the floor and groaned; landing on the hard surface had left a bruise that was already coming through on his back. He quickly went to check on Phoebe who had landed on the ground just as hard.

'Are you okay?' he pulled her up to her feet

'Uh… yeah,' she blinked a few times before realising what happened

'So, much for keeping the baby's powers under control!'

Phoebe touched her stomach 'It wasn't the baby,' she looked up 'it was me,'

* * *

Phoebe looked back up at the computer screen as she took another bite from her cereal bowl filled with Granola. She had been up since 6:30, ever since she had got pregnant; she always woke up earlier than normal. This wasn't a bad thing; it just meant that she had no one to talk to for 3 hours, as everyone else got up later.

_Thank God I used a soundproofing spell on Lexa's and Brennan's rooms_ she thought. She had taken a precaution to make sure that the others didn't catch her late night training sessions with Jesse. Phoebe looked at her watch, it was now 8:25, she had been up for the past 2 hours going through the entire mutant database to see if any other psionic witches had went through the same power advancement she had.

Brennan walked in behind her and kissed the top of her head as he rested his hands on her shoulders.

'Morning,' he whispered into her ear

She smiled 'Morning,' he kissed her cheek and move over the kitchen to sort out his breakfast. Phoebe looked around, Lexa and Jesse weren't up yet, now would be the best time to tell him. She walked over to the countertop and refilled her coffee mug

'Brennan I need to tell you something,' she rushed the sentence out, there was no going back now.

'What is it,' he sounded concerned when he saw her serious face and moved closer to her.

'Um… this is hard for me to say, and it's probably gonna be even harder for you to hear, but I'm-,'

'Morning,' Lexa stretched and entered the kitchen area, Phoebe and Brennan broke apart.

'Oh, morning,' Phoebe replied as Lexa made herself a peanut butter sandwich, Phoebe had to fight back the nausea that was being caused by the smell.

Brennan moved the conversation along by looking at his watch 'Wow! 8:30! Jess doesn't usually lie in for that long,'

Lexa looked at Jesse's room with a shocked look on her face 'Maybe he can't get out,'

'What makes you say that?' Phoebe asked, trying to block out the peanut butter smell by raising her coffee mug to her mouth and smelling its aroma.

'Well, maybe it's the fact that there's ice freezing over his door!' her voice was raised. Phoebe and Brennan spun around to look, it was true! And the ice was spreading from the door and into the walls of Sanctuary.

'We've got to stop it! If it goes any further it could bring the mountain down on us!' Brennan said.

The three ran over the door, the ice was now spreading to the floor and threatened to engulf their feet.

'Stand back!' Lexa shouted, the others did as they were told as she fired a roasting beam at the door, but for some reason, instead of going towards the door, the laser completely rebounded and sent Lexa flying back.

'Brennan! Do something!' Phoebe shouted as she went to check on Lexa, this also had a hidden perk, because she knew that if she had stayed close to the ice for much longer, her pregnancy would be exposed by the baby wanting to shield its Mommy from the ice.

Brennan nodded and fired a tesla coil at the door. This sent the door into a million pieces and the disturbance to the ice caused it to shrink back and go back to its source.

Brennan watched the ice revert, and was surprised it shrunk back into Jesse.

* * *

The entire Mutant X team were in the lab, they realised that something was going on. With Lexa's powers rebounding on her, she ended up with serious burns on her arm and Jesse was also dangerous, as it seemed that he could create ice at will. Although the rest of the team didn't know, except Jesse, Phoebe's psionic 'beam' could also be connected to all this.

'Are you okay?' Phoebe asked Lexa as she was sitting in the lab chair getting her burns tended to by Andy.

'Yeah… this is a really non-painful way of healing,' Lexa said, obviously impressed by the warm glow of Andy's healing power.

'Okay, that's you,' Andy retreated his hands and Lexa looked at her arm

'Wow, you're good,'

'I still don't understand this whole white lighter thing,' Jesse said

'You will in time,' Phoebe replied 'But as we do have one, we might as well use him,' she smirked in Andy's direction 'Why don't you see if the Elders have any info on our powers? Although I doubt it, they hardly ever have any good information,' Andy nodded and orbed away.

'Elders?' Lexa questioned

Brennan and Phoebe laughed 'You may be able to cast spells now, but you still have no idea about being a witch,'

Brennan looked at her 'Wait a minute, you said 'our powers' have yours spiralled out of control?'

Phoebe's heart skipped a beat, she slipped up! She would tell him when it happened, and then she would have to tell him why she was training.

'Uh… I was training in the Dojo was Jesse early this morning and my psionic blast turned into a large beam of energy, it even broke through his massing,' she replied

'Why were you training so early?' Brennan asked.

Phoebe took a deep breath 'Actually… it has something to do with what I wanted to talk to you about,' she glanced at Jesse, signalling that she wanted to be alone with him.

'Uh… C'mon Lex, I'll… give you a game a pool in the rec room,' Jesse began to walk out of the lab.

Lexa looked back and forth between Brennan and Phoebe then stood up 'Okay,' she suddenly disappeared in a flash of light.

'Lexa, why did you turn invisible?' Phoebe asked, she got no response 'Lexa?'

'In here!' Lexa voice came from the rec room. The group gave each other confused looks and went to the rec room.

They found Lexa sitting down on one of the sofas, her face was pale and she looked as if she was about to throw up.

'How did you get here so fast?' Jesse asked her as he down to comfort her.

'Uh… I dunno, I was thinking about going to the rec room, and suddenly, I was here,'

'Try and do it again,' Jesse said

'What?'

'I have a theory, just think of another room,'

She sighed 'Alright,' she closed her eyes, and disappeared in a flash of light.

'Marco!' Phoebe shouted

'Polo!' Lexa shouted back

'Bedroom,' said Brennan and they followed him to Lexa's bedroom.

They walked in and once again she looked queasy

'Jess, just tell me your damn theory! I don't want to do that again,' Lexa snapped.

'Um… okay, well… your powers, all have light as a source, right? So I think that maybe you travelling at the speed of light or something like that,'

'So that's why I feel like my stomach is in my throat?' she smirked

He laughed and put his arms around her 'Yes, although that's not how I would put it,'

* * *

Brennan was sitting at the computers; he was sifting through the security camera footage to investigate Phoebe's advancement. In his years in Mutant X, he had seen a lot of psionic mutants and he might be able to identify it.

Lexa 'flashed' in, Jesse had named so that Lexa would stop calling it 'The Hurl Express,' she had been practising it for a while, or, she was not trying to use it. If she was going to appear in a room she was thinking of, she'd need to get under control or she'd end up exposing them.

'What are you doing?' Lexa asked

'Hmm? Oh, I just looking at Phoebe's advancement, to see if I can ID it,'

'Had any luck?'

'I'm still trying to find it through all this footage,' he took his eye off the screen for one second

'Oh! Hit play! Hit play!' Lexa pointed at the screen

Brennan stopped the rewind and started to watch the tape, it was just at the start of Phoebe and Jesse's conversation.

'_Phoebe, I'm really tired, can't we go to bed now?' Jesse whined._

_'Jess, just a couple more blasts and we'll call it a day… or night… besides, you were the one who said I had to do this if I wanted to keep the baby from using its electrical powers that it got from its Daddy,' Phoebe replied._

Brennan felt as if that last sentence had punched him in the gut and left him winded, Lexa just stood with a dropped jaw.

'Yeah, about that, you won't be able to hide it for much longer. It'll probably be in a month when you start showing a gut,' Jesse laughed.

'_Can't you use your other powers to train by yourself? Constantly massing like this can't be good for me,'_

'_Are you kidding? It'll just make you stronger. Now come on, just a couple more times and you can get your beauty sleep, God knows you need it,' she smirked._

_'Very funny, alright, show me what you got,'_

She blasted him once, and on the second time, Brennan saw what he had originally intended to see, although he got a lot more.

'Oh my God…' Lexa breathed, Brennan just sat in the chair, completely stunned 'You okay?' she asked him.

'I… uh… I… need to go talk to Phoebe…' he walked off her room.

* * *

Phoebe had her blouse lifted up slightly; she was looking at her stomach in a full- length mirror. She was probably being paranoid, but she was convinced that there was a bump.

'What are you doing?' Brennan was standing at the door.

She wheeled around on the spot and dropped her blouse 'Brennan! Um… I was just… checking the waistline on my pants, you know making sure they still fit!' she laughed nervously.

'I think it's too early for maternity clothes, and I also think it's too early for stretch marks,'

Phoebe's fake smile vanished from her face; it was replaced with a look of shock and fear.

'I… How did you-,'

'I was looking through the security footage to see your new power and I saw your conversation with Jess,'

She sighed and looked down at the floor 'I didn't want you to find out that way, I was going to tell you,'

'When? When I had to rush you to the hospital?'

'Of course not!'

'Then why did you tell Jesse before me?'

'Because I needed him to run the test, and if I'd asked you, you would have reacted the same way you're reacting now!' her eyes began to well up, she laughed 'Damn hormones…' she wiped her eyes.

Brennan pulled her into a tight hug 'I'm not angry, not at all… it's just a surprise, you know?'

Phoebe laughed 'Yeah, according to Jesse, I went 3 shades of white, green and purple when he told me,' she pulled away slightly so she could make eye contact 'So, now that you know, how do you feel about it?'

'Honestly?' Brennan took a deep breath 'I come from a big family, not to mention a lot of other kids were around when I was growing up, and being the second oldest of 5, I have a lot of experience with babies, so that doesn't scare me, and…' he leaned in and kissed her 'Having it with you isn't all that bad!' he smirked, but then took a more serious tone 'But… although I'm not scared of looking after a baby, it'll it me a while to get used to the fact that I'm gonna be a Daddy,'

She smiled 'I know the feeling,' then her smile went neutral 'So, I guess Lexa knows then?' she rested her forehead on his heart, she could feel it beating.

'Uh… yeah, she was with me when I was looking at the footage,' he answered

'So much for staying a secret!' Phoebe sighed

'Yeah, but it means I can do this anytime I want…' Brennan lips met hers in a passionate kiss, but it was interrupted by Lexa knocking on the door.

'Sorry to interrupt,' she smirked at Phoebe 'But we've got trouble,'

'Hmm… alright, I am invincible after all,' Phoebe replied

'What?' Brennan looked at her

'Let's just say that our child doesn't like Mommy to be in danger,' she smirked.

* * *

'Alright Jess, what you got for us?' Brennan walked in holding Phoebe's hand

Jesse looked between the two and smiled, but then went back to the problem.

'We got a distress call from one of the safe houses in the city. We didn't respond to it immediately because we were dealing with our powers,' he pressed something on the keyboard and the screen showed the safehouses current condition. Phoebe gasped in horror, it was a collection of blood, fire and even though she wasn't there, she could even sense the residual pain coming from the scene.

'I… think we should go see if they're any survivors,' Jesse said quietly

Brennan nodded and began to walk to the hanger with Jesse, Phoebe quickly ran to her room and picked up her brown suede jacket, she was going too.

'Brennan, hold on! I wanna come along,' she walked up to him before he got into the Helix

'No, I saw how that footage effected you because of your powers, how do think you're gonna feel if you're actually there?'

'I know, but… it's because of my powers that I'll be able to help trapped souls moved on,' she argued

'Phoebe, you're carrying a child. My child. Everything you do effects… it, and-,'

'It's a boy,'

'What?'

_Oh crap_ she thought, she didn't want to tell him about her premonition, so she lied

'Well, it just that the baby has been showing all of your powers, not mine, so I'm just making an educated guess…' she changed the subject 'Look, you know I'm not going to give up, so the sooner you say yes, the sooner we can get going,'

He sighed and looked down, although her stubbornness was part of what he loved about her, it could be a real pain sometimes. Brennan gave in and let aboard the Helix, although he didn't get away without getting some smirks from Jesse.

'What?'

'Oh… nothing,' Jesse smiled as they took off.

* * *

They arrived at the safehouse, the place looked even worse in person; the door had been blasted off the hinges and was lying on the floor. The smell of death and destruction filled the air as they walked down the staircase and into the main area.

Phoebe was using all her strength to stop the stray lingering emotions from affecting her, but it was hard considering the reek of death that filled the air.

'What happened here?' Jesse breathed

Phoebe ran her hand over a tabletop, inspecting the dried blood on it, whoever had been here, must have taken all the corpses with them. She reached the end of the table and touched an empty glass, and was taken by a premonition.

_screaming… blood… evil…pain…slaughter_

She got came out of the premonition, screaming from the pain in her heart and her stomach; Brennan was immediately at her side.

'Oh my God! What the hell happened?!' he exclaimed.

Phoebe was still bawling 'I saw it… I saw it all! It was a massacre, Brennan…' she whispered as she began to weep into his shoulder.

Brennan comforted her, as Jesse tried to salvage the remains of the computer, hoping it would provide some answers.

'Well, I knew Mutant X would come to visit eventually,' a voice came from the doorway. The three turned around to address the person, Phoebe instantly recognised him from Sanctuary's database and her premonition. This was Gabriel Ashlocke.

'Like what I've done with the place?' he smirked and held out his arms, as if he was trying to be some sort of god.

'You heartless son of a bitch,' Phoebe snarled, but Brennan stood in front of her protectively, this gesture was ignored though as Phoebe stepped round him to face Ashlocke.

He wasn't alone; he was with two other people, probably mutants, as it would have been stupid for him to take all three on with just himself.

Brennan ignited electricity his hands 'Get out of here. Now.'

'Oh c'mon Brennan, you don't need to protect your whore, she thinks she can handle herself,'

'Wanna see what this 'whore' can do?' she said darkly before releasing a psionic beam, it didn't blast her back like last time; Phoebe figured that had just been a first time thing.

Ashlocke quickly raised his shield the deflected the blast to the wall 'Oh, big mistake,' he fired an energy blast at Phoebe, which was met by an electrical shield emitting from her stomach, the blast only made her stumble slightly.

'Pretty good, let's try again, shall we?' he fired another blast, which Phoebe was again protected from by her unborn child.

Ashlocke's goons took this as a signal to attack Jesse and Brennan, who prepared for a fight, but not for the guns that they pulled from their coats.

The first one opened fire on Brennan, who instinctively put up his hand, and was shocked when an electrical shield came from it, it looked similar to Phoebe's, but it wasn't the same.

Brennan looked down at his hand in shock at what he had just done, and then he remembered the way powers in his family grew, his mother's words echoed in his mind.

_First, you shall project your element, then you shall propel yourself with your element, and then you shall shield yourself with your element._

The goon looked as stunned as Brennan, but he recovered by quickly reloading his gun. Brennan came out of his shocked state and fired a lightning bolt, which sent his attacker flying and knocked him out.

Jesse staring down his opponent, he knew he was a better fighter when he was mad, so he focused all his anger into the battle ahead of him. He was confused when the goon looked at him with a frightful look and wondered what he had done to scare him. Jesse suddenly saw steam rise from his body and he looked at his hands, he was glowing red-hot! The gunner regained his composure and began to shoot, but the aura of heat that Jesse was emitting melted the bullets before they reached him! Jesse used this time to run at the man and punch him with roasting fist, it sent the man into the air and left a horrible burn on his cheek.

Phoebe and Ashlocke were still fighting it out, neither was winning as Ashlocke would shield and attack and Phoebe would do the same. She fired a psionic beam as he fired an energy blast; both attacks cancelled each other out and caused a shockwave, sending both of them to the ground.

Ashlocke surveyed the scene, both of his Links were down and the other Mutant X members were advancing on him, he decided to make an escape.

He smirked 'This isn't over yet!' he created a blinding flash much like Lexa's, and when the light had vanished, so had he.

* * *

Mutant X were now in the computer area, discussing their new powers, apparently this had happened before, when the entire teams powers advanced at the same time, Jesse could only come to the conclusion that it was because they all lived together.

'Okay, Lexa can transport herself in light, Phoebe's mental attack had boosted, and I can create an impenetrable electrical field, but that still doesn't explain where your powers came from Jess,' Brennan said with his arms folded.

Jesse's answer was simple 'Well… I can already alter my body density… why not my body temperature?'

'Any idea why Ashlocke slaughtered everyone in the safe house?' Phoebe asked coldly.

'Well, my theory is that he was trying to recruit people for the Strand, and when they refused, he killed them,' Jesse answered.

'Yeah, well, it's been a long day, so I, am going to bed,' Lexa disappeared in a blaze of light, they all knew that she had used her new power.

'I think I will too,' Jesse began to walk away.

'Alright, just don't freeze anything, of set anything on fire by accident, okay man?' Brennan smirked.

Jesse smiled 'I'll remember that, night,' he called as he disappeared from view.

Phoebe began to walk away, but Brennan caught her hand

'Hey, I was thinking that since we're not a secret anymore, maybe we could stay in the same room?'

Phoebe sighed 'Sure, I could use the company tonight,' her eyes began to fill up again.

'Hormones?'

Phoebe chuckled hollowly 'No, it's just the pile of dead bodies that we could have prevented from being if we had noticed,' she began to cry.

Brennan wrapped his arms around her 'Jesse said that the distress call was sent 2 minutes before everyone died, we couldn't have done anything even if we had caught the plea immediately,'

'How do you guys get over stuff like this?'

'Well, you're a Charmed One, I'm sure you've lost an innocent at least once, right?' he said.

'Yeah, but that was only one person, I've never lost a crowd before,' she replied.

'Look, all we can do is avenge them by vanquishing Ashlocke once and for all. In this line of work, you have to move on from the past pretty quickly, even if you don't want to,'

Phoebe nodded and led him over to her bedroom, and she also vowed to herself that she wouldn't put her baby through a premonition like that ever again, and the only way for that to happen was to rid the world of Gabriel Ashlocke.

* * *

Okay! Did you like? I'm planning on doing 22 chapters for the Piper and Paige story, and the Mutant X story, it might be 23 if I make both finales two parters. So that makes this story 45 or 47 chapters long (I'm not including the first as anything beacause Phoebe was still with her sisters)

Chapter 18 'Mind, Dead Body, and Soul' will be up soon!


	18. Mind, No Body, Just Soul

Thanks to those who have reviewed, I changed the title of the chapter because I changed the storyline!

Princess Pinky – Leo orbs Grams back to the afterlife all the time, so just because Andy isn't there with her, it doesn't mean that Prue is lonely in the afterlife, she won't be lonely at all with what I'm planning for her! ;) Thanks for reviewing!

wyatt333 – I may give Paige a new power… I haven't decided yet, and thanks for reviewing as always!

**Mind, No Body, Just Soul**

'Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm on my way in right now! I'm in my car,' Paige lied, even though it was a Saturday, apparently there was an important meeting that her boss wanted out of the way before he went on vacation, which didn't make his employee's happy as he was ruining their weekend.

Emma walked through from the kitchen into the dining room to sit down and eat her cereal; this is what she loved about being a teacher, the great holidays. She looked around the table. Leo was trying to persuade Wyatt to eat his eggs and toast, while Piper struggled with Chris in the highchair as he was throwing food onto the floor.

Paige paced the foyer, still fighting with her boss, she put the phone to her shoulder 'Hey, Em? When's the latest Kick Boxing class tonight?' she turned to her redheaded friend.

Emma swallowed a bite of cereal 'Um… I think it's 8: 30; I'll go check the pamphlet,' she ran upstairs to her room. Paige and Emma had been taking Judo classes every week so they could how to protect themselves without the use of powers.

'Ugh! Great!' Paige looked down at her pants, the stray piece of food that Chris had threw landed just above her knee, she groaned and hung up the phone, slamming it down on the table.

'Wow, if you keep doing that, you're gonna have to buy a new cell,' Piper quipped.

Paige sat down and let her head fall to the table 'Ow…' she said from underneath her hair.

'Paige, why don't you just take a day off? You've been working so hard over the last couple of months,' Leo offered his opinion as Wyatt finally finished off his breakfast.

'I can't, I have a ton of paperwork to get through, abusive parents to investigate, foster parents to interview… the list is endless,' she placed her hands under her chin to support her head 'Not to mention demon attacks, the counterparts. The only time I get to see Aidan is when we're doing research! And even he's working double shifts at the firehouse! Do you realise how hard it is to fit all of our feelings into a couple of hours a week?'

Piper walked around the table and wrapped a supportive arm around Paige's shoulders

'Paige, I'm sure this heavy spell at work is just a passing thing, so you just need to ride it out and hope for the best,' she walked into the kitchen with dirty breakfast dishes.

'You're right, tell me about your plans for today, and leave out the good things. I want to know that someone else is suffering besides me,'

The phone rang on the table, Paige picked it up 'Hello? Uh… yeah! Traffic's really bad. What's that,' Paige began to make crackling noises 'Oh, sorry sir! The line's breaking up!' she made more crackling noises and hung up, 'I gotta go…' she told Leo wearily before heading towards the door.

'Uh…Paige?' Leo said cautiously

She sighed 'What?'

'Your pants,'

She looked and saw that the food stain was still there, she let out a groan of frustration and climbed the stairs to her room.

* * *

Paige walked out the exit of her new office building, her social services firm had been moved after the fire caused by the warlock, Gart, had burned the her old office to the ground. She did have to thank Gart though, because if it hadn't been for his fire, she never would have met Aidan. She smiled when she thought of her boyfriend, she was tempted to just blow off the rest of the day and go and spend time with him. Her smile vanished when he heard muffled screams coming from a nearby alley. She decided to investigate, as it was her nature to save the innocent. She walked up the alley and saw that it was empty. Paige was about to leave when someone cut off her exit.

'Going somewhere? Witch!' the person snarled

Paige sighed 'I've had a real pissy day today!' she said 'But I think wailing on some pathetic demons will help. Trash can!' she ordered a nearby trash can to disappear in a flurry of orbs, and reappear on the demons head, cutting off his vision. Paige decided to see how well she could fight using her powers. She picked a large broken piece of wood, and began hitting the side of the trash can repeatedly, causing the demon's head inside a lot of pain.

The demon shimmered out, leaving the trash can on the ground and rematerialized behind Paige.

'What are you gonna do now?' he smirked and conjured an energy ball.

'I'm gonna kick your scrawny bee-hind! That's what I'm gonna do!' she was going to attack again, but heard a voice on the roof.

'Come and get me witch!' a dark lighter taunted from the roof.

'What are you gonna do now?' the demon bounced the energy ball in his hand

The two evil beings continued their taunts, with Paige looking back and forth between the two. Because of her confliction of where to go, her astral projection power activated.

As Paige's soul was travelling to the roof, the dark lighter signalled the demon below to do something. The demon nodded and took a potion from his pocket and poured it down Paige's throat.

Astral Paige appeared next to the dark lighter 'Looking for me?' he turned around just in time to receive one of the moves that Paige had learned at her Judo class. He went over the edge of the roof but dark orbed out before he hit the ground.

'C'mon let's get her out of here!' the demon hissed to his partner.

'Relax. She can't get back thanks to that potion,' the dark lighter replied calmly

Paige looked over the side of the roof and saw her body being lifted up by the two beings. She quickly tried to return and was horrified when she couldn't! All she could was watch the demon and dark lighter disappear with her body.

* * *

'Aidan! Aidan!' Astral Paige called out in the middle of the roof. For some reason, Aidan was always the one she called out for when she was in trouble. She just felt safe knowing that he was aware of the problem and was going to do everything to fix it. There was a surge of water arising from the ground, Paige watched as it slowly took the form of her boyfriend.

'Paige what's wrong? I sensed your distress when you called me,' Aidan walked over to her, immediately concerned. Paige smiled, this was one of the reasons why she loved him, he would do anything for her. She quickly scanned her thoughts; did she just say in her mind that she loved him? This thought sent fireworks through her astral body as she realised that she really did love him. Paige shook herself back to reality; there would be time for self-reflection and proclamations of love later.

'It's a long story, could you please splash me home?' she asked.

'Sure, but what's wrong with your powers?' he questioned.

'As I said, long story. Let's go,' she took his hand and he squeezed it reassuringly as he splashed out.

* * *

'Emma look out!' Piper screamed as the demon fired another energy ball. Emma turned around just in time to use her telempathy and send the ball in the other direction. The energy ball hit the demon, but barely fazed him.

'Okay, that does it!' Piper stomped her foot, which send a ground cracking fissure through her living room and opening a hole in the floor. The demon was swallowed by the abyss and was vanquished when he reached the earth's core. Piper's geokinetic abilities were still a little shaky, she could easily make a fissure, all she needed was to be really angry and with one stamp of her foot, she'd make a hole, her only problem was closing them after they have served their purpose.

'Piper! Close it!' Emma shouted as she watched the sofa fall into the earth.

'I can't! LEO!' she screamed for her husband, who immediately appeared after hearing his wife's tone.

'Get the kids outta here! Now!' she ordered, he nodded and orbed away to get Wyatt and Chris out of danger.

'Piper, freeze it or something!' Emma shrieked she was backed up against the wall, if the hole got any bigger, it would take her.

Paige and Aidan appeared in the foyer and could hear and feel the rumbling coming from the living room.

Piper finally stopped the fissure from growing with her freezing power and saw Paige and Aidan enter.

'Oh thank God! One of you go over there and get Emma!' Piper said, pointing at the redhead in the corner who was standing on the edge of the chasm. The couple exchanged a look, Aidan spoke up.

'Uh… I'll get her,' he was consumed by a tower of water and reappeared the same way next to Emma, who was glad of the rescue.

* * *

'What!? You lost your body!?' Piper screamed in disbelief as they in the sunroom, the living room had a slight flooring problem at the moment.

'Well, I astral projected, the demons took my body and I can't get back to it,' Paige admitted shamefully.

'How…how…. How can that happen? You astral project all the time!' her big sister exclaimed

'Yeah, well, I can't, so let's get back to the problem at hand! Some horrible demon has his paws on my beautiful body…' Paige groaned buried her face in her hands.

'Aw… well, aren't we the little narcissist?' Emma joked

Paige shot her a glare 'This… isn't… funny!' she tossed a cushion from the sofa at Emma, who caught it just in time.

'Okay!' Aidan announced as he walked down the stairs with the Book of Shadows in hand 'According to this,' he tapped the page 'What happened to you has happened to another witch in the past,'

'How did she cure it?' Paige asked hopefully

'Uh… she didn't,' Paige groaned at his answer 'Unfortunately, there's more bad news, your body will only survive for so long without it's astral self, if your body dies…'

'I die too,' Paige finished off

Aidan sighed 'Yeah,' he looked at her with sad eyes.

Emma remained hopeful 'Well, she may not have cured it, but we will! Paige, where were you attacked?'

'Uh… the alley next to my office, why?'

'Well, how about Piper and me do a little re-con? I might be able to get a vision,'

'You get premonitions?' Piper asked

'Hmm… I wouldn't call them premonitions… there more like… psychic echoes, I can sorta feel what happened at the place,' Emma explained.

Leo orbed in, he had been checking with his fellow Elders on Paige's condition.

'Anything?' Piper asked him.

He sighed 'On curing it? No. But they think that demon is behind this and it's not just a malfunction in your powers,'

'Okay, stay here, take care of Paige, and look in the book,' Piper said as she walked off with Emma.

'Where are you going?'

'To do the CSI part of our job,' Piper called before Leo heard the front door shut.

Paige once again put her face in her hands and sighed, Aidan knelt down in front of her and took her hands.

'Paige, we're gonna fix this. So don't think this is the end, and… well… I was gonna keep this surprise until tonight but I think you need a cheer up. I got us reservations at your favourite Italian restaurant for tonight, you know? The little one downtown?'

Paige smiled 'You did?'

He nodded 'We've both been working so hard lately, normally and magically, but I thought that we could have at least one night together without having to do research!' he grinned.

She laughed 'You are so sweet…'

She leaned down to his kneeling level and kissed him, it was about to get more passionate when Leo came back from the other room.

'I fixed the fissure in the living room so… oh! Sorry!' he winced at his actions.

'No, it's all right. We need to get back to business anyway…' her eyes widened as she finished her sentence 'Business… oh no! Work! What am I gonna do?' She stood up and looked around for her purse.

'Calm down… I'll call your work and tell them you had a family emergency,' Aidan walked off in search of the phone.

'Say I'm sick! There's only so many times the 'family emergency' thing works,'

* * *

'You getting anything?' Piper asked Emma, who was walking around the alleyway and was in deep concentration.

'There's… something… but it's hard to describe…' she replied.

'Try me,'

'It's like… Paige is here…trying to tell me something… but…' Emma narrowed her eyes and continued walking.

'Are all telempaths as spacey as you?' Piper smirked.

Emma stopped and turned around 'No, the powerful we are, the more freaky we get!' she smiled 'Now shush! I need to concentrate!' she went back to looking like she was in a trance. Piper followed Emma's movements, until Emma stopped and bent down to look at the ground.

'What are we looking at?' Piper asked bluntly.

'This,' Emma pointed to a speck of moisture in the ground.

'What is it?'

'I think…' Emma narrowed her eyes again 'I think this is part of the potion that isn't allowing Astral Paige to return to her body,'

'Wow! You really are good!' Piper said, impressed

'Thank you, maybe we can use what we now know to help,' Emma replied.

* * *

Piper and Emma walked into the house where they saw that the living room was back to normal; they also saw Paige meditating on the coffee table.

'Argh! I can't do it!' Paige shouted in frustration.

'Paige, you can do it,' Aidan sat in a chair with a very happy Chris in his lap 'You just need to focus,'

Paige let out an exasperated sigh 'Would you stop doting over my nephew and help please?'

'I'm not doting, we're just getting along, aren't we, little guy?'

Chris laughed and nodded his head 'Yeah! Uncle Aidan's the bestest!' he replied.

Paige and Aidan shared an awkward look 'Uh… he's not as far as your uncle, honey,' Paige said to Chris 'Yet…' she winked at Aidan, to let him know she was joking, she didn't want to scare him off.

Aidan noticed Piper and Emma smiling in the foyer, 'Uh… Chris? Why don't you get your toy cars out? I'll be along in a minute,' Aidan set Chris down on the floor; he went up to his room to get his toys.

'I think Paige got the only great guy in the city,' Emma whispered to Piper who laughed.

'Where's Wyatt?' Piper asked

'Oh, he's in the sunroom watching TV,' Aidan replied

'And Leo?'

Aidan simply looked up to the ceiling and Piper knew what he meant

Paige opened her eyes to see her sister and friend watching her, 'Hey! So, what'd you guys find out?'

'We found out…' Piper sat down 'That the demon drugged your body with a potion when you were in astral form, so that's what's not allowing you to return to your body.

'Do you think they're in league with the counterparts?' Aidan asked

'Possibly. Let's not rule anything out. Anyway, how are things on your end?' Piper asked.

Paige looked at her wearily 'Not good. The only help we got from the book is that someone's real self and astral self can't exist at the same time,'

'But we already know that!' Emma flopped into a chair.

Paige nodded 'And what's worse, I'm starting to feel a bit strange. I think my body is dying,'

Everyone shared sorrowful looks, until Piper sat up properly.

'I've got it!'

'Got what?' Paige asked

'Emma! She can stimulate your body's mind with her powers!' Paige and Emma looked confused, but Aidan caught on to Piper's plan.

'Don't you see? It's like the book said! Someone's real self and astral self can't exist at the same time! So that means that if Emma can blast Paige's mind with an awakening jolt, it will force Astral Paige to return!'

'Uh… I hate to be a downer, but we can't even find my body! Let alone work this crazy mojo we're planning!' Paige protested.

'What? You don't have faith in me?' Emma asked

'It's not that it's just…' Paige stopped mid-sentence and smiled.

'What?'

She got off the coffee table and started flipping the pages of the Book of Shadows; she stopped and slapped the page in front of her.

'That's what!' she said triumphantly.

'To summon an astral spirit…' Emma read aloud 'How does that help us?'

'It can't… yet,' Paige began to explain 'If I can re-word it a little, I can use it to send me to my body and you guys follow, save the day and my body!'

Piper gave her a sceptic look 'That's so crazy!' she smiled 'It might actually work!'

Paige nodded furiously 'Yeah! Okay! I'll get to work!'

* * *

'Would you stop pacing!? This'll work I tell you,' the darklighter said to his demonic partner, who nervous about the Charmed Ones coming after him.

'I'm telling you! The witches are gonna come after us!' he rubbed his hands together nervously.

'You know, I don't know why they paired me with you, but I'm not putting up with it anymore!' the darklighter conjured his crossbow and shot his companion, vanquishing him instantly.

'Killing your own kind? That's sad,' a voice said behind him, he turned around to see his bosses, but as he looked closer, he realised they were his enemies. He began to dark orb out, but Piper froze him then unfroze his head.

'Aha! My precious body!' Paige spotted her body on the other side of the room,

'Well? Go get it!' Piper said, the others went over to the real Paige as Piper began questioning the witness.

'Who sent you?' she asked, the darklighter remained silent 'Oh, so that's how it's gonna be,' she flicked her wrists and blew up his hand. The darklighter screamed in pain, but was unable to move due to the freeze.

'You know, the only reason I didn't blow up your entire arm is so that I have more body parts to destroy and ultimately cause you pain,' Piper said with fake sadness.

'I'll never talk, witch!' he spat.

'No, you won't, not after I blow up your head,' Piper bluffed, she put up her hands just to scare him into talking. It worked.

'Okay! Okay! I'll talk! It was the-,' he blew up in mid sentence, only leaving a pile of dust.

Paige walked over to her sister, she was back in her body and she surveyed the pile of ash on the floor 'Nice going!' she said sarcastically, 'Now we'll never know,'

'What?' Piper looked hurt, 'I didn't do that!'

'No, I did,' a voice came from the shadows

Piper and Paige wheeled around to see their duplicates from out from the darkness.

'We've really gotta stop meeting like this,' the Paige standing in the shadows said.

'Aidan… Get Emma out of here…' Piper whispered.

'But…' he began to protest

'Now!' Piper shouted, Aidan didn't take it any further and splashed out with Emma.

'So this is what it's come down to? You kill us or we kill you?' Paige asked.

'Way of the world,' her counterpart answered before conjuring her crossbow. The fight had begun.

'Ugh! I'm so _sick_ of that thing! Don't you do anything else? Crossbow!' Paige called for the crossbow in her twin's hand; it vanished in a swirl of white orbs and began to make its way to Paige.

'Oh no you don't! Crossbow!' evil Paige called out; both were now stuck in a magical tug of war with the crossbow. White orbs and black orbs clashing against one another, making a sort of grey light in between the combatants.

Both were struggling to keep their hold on it, but neither was backing down. Eventually, the cluster of greyness exploded, both Paiges fell to the ground as a result of letting go. They both recovered at the same time and stared each other down, before orbing out and making their fight airborne. A mound of white orbs hit against a cluster of black orbs, the two kept bashing one another and no one was winning. Both set orbs flew around the room, crashing against one another in a futile attempt to take each other down.

They finally ran out of energy and resumed their normal form, they stared each other down again before releasing powerful telekinetic blasts at each other, the two blasts met in the middle and created a shockwave which sent both girls into a wall and knocking them out.

Meanwhile, Piper was having troubles of her own; she was hiding behind a large boulder, while trying to avoid her counterpart's blasts and at same time trying to fire some of own. Another portion of the boulder blew up, Piper looked round it to see that her twin was doing the same thing, hiding behind a rock and attacking when she could. Piper threw a blast at the rocky defence on the other side of the cave, blasting quite a large piece off it.

She decided that it was time to stop hiding; she jumped over the top of the boulder as evil Piper did also and fired a blast. Once again, her moves were mirrored and the blasts cancelled each other out, but not before throwing the two Pipers back with the result of their clash.

Their movements where the exact same, as always, both walked towards each other, Piper knew that if she hit her with a massed out fist, it would send her flying. The two massed out their bodies and went hand to hand, Piper decided to be smart and phase out the next time a fist came towards. Her twin's fist went right through her phased body; Piper was pleased about her success, until evil Piper threw out an explosive blast. Luckily as she was phased out, so when she blew up, she just reformed in the same spot.

Both of them just stared at each other, they had used up most of their magical energy and were too tired to fight.

'Stalemate?' evil Piper offered.

'Gladly,' Piper replied

Both went to tend to their sisters. As she was tending to Paige, Piper noticed a look of concern on her counterpart's face when she was waking up evil Paige.

_Looks like we have more in common than we thought_ Piper thought as she helped Paige to her feet.

'Until next time,' evil Piper warned before her sister dark orbed them out.

Piper nodded 'I'll be waiting,' Paige gave her a funny look

'What the hell… are you guys friends now?'

'No, we just understand each other. Now let's get outta here,' Paige nodded and the two disappeared in a glow of lights.

* * *

Paige was standing in the bathroom, adding the finishing touches to her outfit while looking at the mirror and sorting out her hair at the same time. She was manoeuvring it so that it covered up the bump on her head that she had got from being hit against a wall. She didn't want it healed as she had had enough magic for one day.

'Paige! Aidan just pulled up outside!' Emma called from downstairs.

'Okay! Tell him I'll be down in a minute!' she called back; she quickly straightened out her dress and walked downstairs.

Piper and Emma were watching from the window

'Now, is he going to honk his horn? Or is he going to come in and get her like a gentleman?'

'Who knows? But we'll find out soon,' Emma replied.

'What do you think, Wyatt?' Piper asked her son, who was peering over the window ledge to see why they were looking outside.

'I dunno what a gentleman is,' he replied.

Emma laughed 'Don't worry little guy, not many men know either,' she ruffled his hair.

'You got that right!' Piper said

'Huh?' he looked up at her

'You'll understand when you're older,'

'Oh! Look! He's coming to the door,' Piper said, Emma went back to the window and looked out.

'Oh! You're right! He gets points for that,' Emma said

'Yeah and points for about everything else too! Good looking, great with kids…' Piper and Emma were giggling so much that they didn't notice that Paige had answered the door and left.

Paige and Aidan walked up to the front porch of the Manor, this had been the best night in weeks, and neither wanted it to end.

'So, you have a good time tonight?' Aidan asked.

'Mmm…' she put her arms round his neck 'Definitely!' she kissed him, not noticing the two pairs of peering eyes and the side window of the living room.

Paige took a deep breath, if she was going to do it; she had to do it now. She looked down and prepared to say…

'I love you,' Aidan said.

Paige looked up with wide eyes; he gave her a hopeful look as his face began to redden.

'Uh… You can jump in anytime here, Paige,' he said.

She laughed and kissed him passionately, then whispered to him 'You took the words right out my mouth,' she stopped laughing and looked at him 'I love you too,' she was about to kiss him again, when she heard squealing coming from inside.

Aidan laughed 'I guess I better go…' he kissed her again 'Night,' he walked down the steps and back to his car.

Paige walked in to find Piper and Emma sitting watching TV, she glared at the back of their heads.

'I can't believe you guys were spying to me!' she put her hands on her hips.

'Spying on you?' Emma began to stutter 'Sorry to disappoint you Paige, but your love live isn't of our interest, right Piper?'

Piper's eyes widened 'Uh… Yeah! I mean, what makes you think that your love live is so hot that we spy on you!'

Emma gave Piper a look that said 'You couldn't be more obvious'

Paige sighed 'Whatever, I'm going to bed,' she walked into the foyer to head upstairs.

'Ugh! I hate her! Did you see how intense that kiss was?' Emma whined.

'Yeah, I miss the thrill of a new love,' Piper's eyes went misty as she stared into space.

'I heard that!' Paige shouted from the landing.

'Busted………'

* * *

Well, that was the first P & P chapter in a long time, and the next 5 chapters will be about them too!

Chapter 19 'I See Past People' will be up soon!


	19. I See Past People

Thanks to all those who have reviewed! We're almost reaching the half waypoint of this story!

**I See Past People**

'This is a great place,' Emma's date complimented P3 as they sat down at a table.

'Thanks, my friend, who is also my roommate, owns it,' Emma replied.

Emma had feeling about this guy, she didn't whether it was a good one or a bad one, but she definitely felt something.

'I'm really glad we could do this,' he took her hand, but as soon as she did, Emma closed her eyes and put her hand to her forehead. Emma looked back up with frightful eyes.

'You okay?' he asked

'Uh… yeah!' she wore a fake smile and laughed nervously 'Would you excuse me? I'll be right back,' he nodded and Emma made her way towards the bar.

'Okay, thanks,' Piper put the cash in the register after serving someone and went on to the next person. Emma pulled up the piece of wood that allowed access to the bar and rushed over to Piper.

'Piper! Piper! My date is a demon! He melts his victims from the inside out, and I'm his next victim!' Emma whispered to avoid other people from hearing.

'What? How do you know?'

'When he touched me, I got some sort of psychic flash, I think my powers are growing because it definitely seemed like one of those premonition things you told me about!'

'Oh for Gods sake!' Piper threw out her hands, freezing all the innocent clubbers, leaving the demon to wonder what happened.

'Hi!' Piper shouted from the bar.

He noticed that Emma and Piper were the only people not frozen 'Witches…' he growled.

'Bye!' Piper shouted before flicking her wrists and shattering the demon into a million pieces. She sighed and made another gesture to unfreeze the club, she turned to Emma to demand an explanation

'Emma, Wednesday's date had a scary foot fetish, last night's guy was agoraphobic, and tonight's is a demon! What's going on with you?'

'Ugh,' Emma grabbed a bottle of beer from the bar 'I don't know, I've attracted weirdo's all my life, usually I just send them a little mind blast and they run away, but I just don't feel like it anymore,'

'Being a man-eater too much for ya?' Piper smirked.

Emma gave her a friendly glare 'No… it's just that… I would always use my powers on a date, in a minute I could know everything about him, and since I knew everything, I got bored and moved on the next guy,'

'It that why you're finding out about guys the hard way? To not be bored?' Piper picked up her already open beer.

'Maybe… I dunno,' Emma looked down at her bottle.

'Speaking of guys…' Piper nodded her head towards the entrance.

Emma looked around to see Paige and Aidan walking towards them, hand in hand.

'I think she's just showing off…' Emma smirked.

Piper laughed and turned to her little sister, who gave them a funny look and wanted to know why they were laughing.

'Private joke. What can I get you?' Piper asked.

'Uh… I'll just have some water,' Paige said, Aidan shook his head, indicating he didn't want anything.

'How was your date?' Paige asked Emma

'Cut short. By us vanquishing him,' Emma replied.

'He was a demon?' Paige widened her eyes

'Yeah,'

'Aw… Honey, I'm sorry. He was a smooth talker on the phone,' Paige said

'So you're saying I should stick to guys who have a stutter?' Emma laughed, along with everyone else.

Piper put an arm around her shoulder 'Wanna help work the bar and make crappy drinks for rude customers?'

Emma chuckled 'Na, I think I'll just go home, night you guys,' she said to Paige and Aidan before walking out of the club.

* * *

She walked into the Manor and hung up her coat she saw Leo kneeling down on the floor with his children and playing with them. He stood up when he saw Emma.

'Hey,' Leo looked at his watch 'That was a short date,'

'Yeah, it was also demonic,' Emma replied.

'Really? Boy, you really have struck out these past few nights, haven't you,'

Emma raised her eyebrow 'Uh… I mean…' Leo began.

'I know what you mean. Have you seen the senior class's potions exams around? I have to grade them,'

'Uh… I think you left them on the table,' Leo pointed towards the dining room.

'Thanks,' Emma turned back to see Leo had knelt back down, but now that he had, Emma could see a woman standing just behind him, smiling at Wyatt and Chris! She had long brown hair and alive blue eyes, except that 'alive' was impossible, she was a ghost!

'Leo! Leo! Do you see that?!' Emma was hitting Leo's shoulders.

The woman turned round and faced Emma 'Oh my God! You can see me?! Oh crap!' the ghost disappeared in a flurry of white lights.

Emma turned back to Leo, 'Okay, did you see that?'

'No, what should I be seeing?' Leo looked at the blank space in the middle of the sunroom.

'She was just right… never mind… I think I'll just go to bed,' Emma told him.

She walked up the stairs and into the hallway; she noticed a picture on top of one of the wooden units in the hall. She picked it up and laughed, seeing the size of Piper's fringe in the old photo, Emma recognised the woman on the right was the middle Halliwell sister, Phoebe. Emma looked at the centre of the photo, and almost dropped it in surprise when she saw the woman in the middle of the photo, it was the ghost she had saw downstairs!

'Mommy! Mommy!' Emma spun round to see a little girl come running out of Piper's room, wearing pyjama's and holding a teddy bear. The little girl ran into Paige's room, Emma decided to follow.

It was dark in Paige's room, which was unusual as she always left the lights on when she went out. A lamp ignited on the nightstand to reveal a woman lying in the bed, she looked slightly older than Emma and was in a nightgown.

'Mommy! I had a bad dream!' the little girl jumped up onto the bed, making the woman sit up. She lifted up the little girl and put her on her lap.

'Piper, do you remember what I told you about the monsters in your dreams? Just tell yourself that they're not real and that they don't exist, and they'll go away!' the woman said with a smile on her face. Emma watched on, completely confused about what was happening. The little girl was Piper? She was even more surprised when the woman walked right through her on her way to taking Piper back to her room. Emma watched them disappear into the other room, and when she turned back, Paige's room was just like it had been before! Messy. She decided that she couldn't go to sleep after this and went to check the book.

* * *

Paige walked into the kitchen; she stretched and suppressed a yawn as she went over to the coffee machine. She was surprised when someone had already made a pot; she just took this as luck and felt the side to make sure it wasn't yesterdays. She sat down at the table with her coffee and waited for the bagel that she'd put in the toaster, she noticed Emma sitting outside on the bench in the back yard, and went to investigate.

'Hey,' Paige closed the door behind her and joined Emma on the bench.

'Hey,' Emma replied.

'What are you doing up so early on a weekend?' Paige asked.

'Uh… I couldn't sleep… I was doing research with the book…'

'Uh oh,' Paige pulled her coffee away from her mouth, when someone checked with the Book of Shadows, it usually spelled 'we're wasting our weekend to go demon hunting'

Emma chuckled 'No, it isn't anything like that! It's just…' she trailed off.

Paige gently nudged her shoulder 'C'mon, I not be able to feel and manipulate emotions like you, but I can tell when my best friend is down,'

She smiled at Paige's remark 'Okay, I'll tell you. I'll probably need your help anyway. It all started last night when I saw this ghost in the house,'

'A ghost?'

'Yeah, but I just shook it off as being too tired, so I went upstairs and this photo on the dresser caught my eye, I looked at it and one of the women in it was the ghost that I had saw!'

'Wow!' Paige was trying to remember what photo she was talking about, there were so many in the Manor, she gasped as she realised what Emma was talking about.

'That's not the weirdest part! When I put the photo down, this little girl came out of Piper' room and went into yours, looking for her mother, and the woman in your room called the little girl Piper! It was like watching a home movie or something,' Emma took a sip of her hot chocolate; she wasn't one for coffee.

'Power growth spurt?' Paige suggested

'Maybe… I did have a premonition last night, that's how I knew about my demon date,'

'Well, you said you can always tell what happened in the past at a certain place, maybe your powers are now showing you what happened?'

'That's not all,' Emma continued, 'I've been seeing these things all around the house since last night! I think I've got the entire story of the Halliwell childhood!' she said with fake enthusiasm.

As if the heavens were reacting to her mood, the dull clouds that had been overhead finally released torrents of rain and forced the two girls indoors.

* * *

Thunder crashed overhead, it seemed as if it was directly over Manor. Emma had explained everything to a sleepy Piper as Paige had went to retrieve the photo had Emma had been talking about.

'So you us… as kids?' Piper sat down and stifled a yawn

'Yeah, I had no idea you guys were raised by you grandmother!'

'How did you find out?'

'Oh, I saw your Grams bring you home after your Mom's funeral… I'm sorry,' Emma held her head down.

Piper waved her hand 'It's alright, we got over it a long time ago. What else did you find out?'

'Um… I wouldn't call this finding out, just an observation, but I didn't see little Paige in any of the visions,'

'Yeah… Um… That's because Paige didn't grow up here, we only met her about four years ago,'

' But you've been witches for seven years, so that means…'

'Yeah, we had another sister,' Piper confirmed.

Paige came down the stairs holding a picture frame; she walked into the living room and handed it to Emma.

'Is the woman in the middle the one you saw?' Paige asked.

Emma quickly scanned the photo 'Yeah, definitely,' Emma handed it back.

Paige and Piper exchanged a glance as Piper snatched the photo away from her sister.

'Are you absolutely sure you saw this woman?' Piper wanted to be sure before she got her hopes up.

'Positive,' Emma nodded her head.

Piper looked at her, then at the photo, and ran up the stairs with a confused Paige and a blissfully ignorant Emma. Piper reached the attic and started flipping the pages frantically.

'Piper, what are you doing?' Paige asked cautiously; her sister didn't seem herself.

'Don't you get it?! If she is allowed to see us, that means we're allowed to see her! Orb the candles into a circle!' Piper ordered.

'But Piper, I don't think-,'

'Paige!' Piper shouted as thunder rumbled above them.

Paige was now quite scared 'C-Candles, circle,' he waved her hand and the candles on the old wooden unit orbed out and orbed back in the shape of a circle on the floor. Piper grabbed the lighter from the table and lit the candles, one by one and returned to the book.

'Piper, maybe you should-,' Emma tried one last time to get her to see reason.

'Hear these words, hear my cry

Spirit from the other side

Come to me, I summon thee

Cross now, the great divide!'

White lights began to appear in the centre of the circle, but before the spirit was revealed, lightning flashed over head, igniting the room in blazing light for one second, but when it stopped, the power had went out and they couldn't see who they had summoned. There was a ghostly glow now coming from the centre of the room and once their eyes had focused, the Charmed Ones saw that the ghostly glow was Prue Halliwell.

* * *

All Piper could do was let out the breath she had been holding, Paige and Emma was looked on, clearly shocked.

'Prue…' Piper finally spoke.

She smiled, 'In the flesh… Well, in about a second I will,' she walked out of the candle circle and became corporeal.

Piper's eyes began to well up with tears as she ran over to her big sister and hugged her tightly. Paige's face remained neutral as she watched the scene; she nudged Emma to get her attention.

'C'mon, let's go shopping or something,' Paige led her friend out of the attic.

* * *

'So what's the deal Paige? We're gonna have to go home eventually,' Emma said as she sorted through a clothes rack looking for a bargain. Paige sat on couch that was in the store, eating away at a bag of chips.

'Yeah, and hopefully 'Big Sis' won't be there…' she mumbled with chips in her mouth.

'What is it? You two have a bad past?' Emma guessed

'Try no past,' she answered, her hand diving back into the bag 'Look, it's not as if I have anything against her, I would love to get to know her. It's just that it took a long time for Piper and I to be as close as we are now, and I just think that it's all gonna be thrown out the window now…'

Emma turned around from the full length mirror where she had been holding clothes in front of her to see if they would fit 'Look, I may not have known Piper for as long as you have, but she treasures family more than anything else, and you're family, so I think you should get to know your oldest sister while you still can,'

'Sage advice there, whose mind did you probe to get that little tidbit?' Paige joked.

Emma gave her a 'I'm not amused' face 'Look, I just don't want you to regret passing up this opportunity. There are a lot of things I regret doing…' she looked down at the floor.

'Emma?' Paige stopped munching on the food to notice her friend's condition.

She looked up and smiled 'I'm fine… Just remembering the past,'

Paige got up and hit her playfully on the arm 'C'mon, lets go drown our sorrows in two extra foamy lattes! '

Emma grinned 'That's the most worthwhile thing we've brought all day!'

* * *

The rain was still pounding the road as Paige turned into Prescott Street; she was dreading an actual meeting with her oldest sister, as she had fled the scene earlier. She pulled into the driveway and quickly got her shopping out of the trunk along with Emma, she ran inside to avoid getting soaked as the rain was bouncing of the ground.

The two of them entered to find no one in the house and the power out.

'Piper! Leo!' Paige called. There no response, she walked further into the Manor with Emma at her heels.

'I'm gonna go put these upstairs,' Emma held up her shopping bags and went upstairs. Paige walked into the kitchen to put the groceries away, she thought she heard a creak and quickly turned round to investigate, she couldn't see anything so she went back to filling the cupboards with food. Paige suddenly went flying back and landed in the dining room, she was slightly dazed and all she could see was a black figure coming towards her, she instinctively threw out her arm and sent the mystery person into the air.

Both stood up and went over to each other, Paige realised it was Prue.

'Why did you attack me?!' they said in unison.

'I thought you where a demon!' they talked at the same time again.

Both sisters sighed in frustration, that was the thing about first impressions; you only got one.

'Where the hell did you come from anyway?' Paige snapped.

Prue glared back 'I was in the basement checking the circuit box, you know, the thing you left before you decided to go on a shopping spree?!' Prue spat back, her voice raised.

'Oh! I'm sorry!' Paige shouted sarcastically 'It's hard to find anything down there due to all of your stuff taking up all the space! And by the way, what made you think I was a demon?! Did you think I was the infamous grocery packing demon?!'

'You just answered your own question with the way you're talking?!' Prue retorted.

'Me?! I'm not the one who uses her powers every time they see someone!' Paige retaliated.

'What the hell is wrong with you!?' Prue shouted.

'What the hell is wrong with both you?' a calm voice came from the kitchen door.

Prue and Paige turned around to see that Piper had been observing their fight.

'Why don't you ask 'Big Sis' over here? She seems to know everything' Paige sneered.

'Oh please! You're the one that snapped when you were sent back a couple of feet! You must be useless when a demon attacks!'

'Useless?! I'm not the one who deserted her sisters and went to a cosy afterlife! I'm the reason Piper and Phoebe are still alive!'

'You guys…' Piper stepped in.

'Shut up!' Paige and Prue yelled at their sister and continued to fight.

'Why are you still here anyway? Shouldn't you have went back to sit on your fluffy cloud and gaze at the stars?' Paige used a fake happy voice to patronise her.

'No, but I know someone who will be seeing stars in a minute!' Prue threatened.

'Oh really? Bring it on!'

'SHUT. UP. NOW!' Piper screamed, but it was too late; Prue had already pushed Paige to the ground and was glaring at her. Paige reacted by picking up the toaster and throwing it her. Prue reflected back telekinetically, Paige orbed out the way of the rebounding toaster and Piper massed out as the toaster came hurtling towards her, making it bounce harmlessly off her.

Paige reappeared and glared at her sisters, before orbing out to an unknown place, Piper just stormed into the dining room and Prue stomped back into the basement.

* * *

Emma had gone into the attic to put the candles back in their place, as Piper hadn't bothered to do so. She was picking up the last candle, when a glow from the Book of Shadows attracted her gaze. Emma went over and saw that the triquetra was emitting an orange light, and that all three points were beginning to shake and come apart. She watched on in horror as the points moved away from each other and left an empty circle.

* * *

Paige knocked the door of Aidan's apartment; she couldn't remember his work schedule and hoped that he was here. Tears were streaming down her face, on the orb over here, she realised that she hadn't even meant the things that she had said to her oldest sister, she had just been acting out of fear and anger.

She breathed a sigh of relief when the door creaked open and Aidan appeared, he smiled at her but then saw she was crying. He silently brought her in and wrapped his arms tightly around her as she cried into his shoulder. He brought her away slightly so he could look into her eyes; he brushed a strand of hair away from her face and cupped her cheek.

'Can… Can I stay here tonight?' she whispered shakily.

'Of course,' he didn't push her for a reason, as he knew she would tell him in her own time.

* * *

'Okay, and if a flick this switch… voila!' Prue said triumphantly as the power came back the house. Piper was holding the flashlight behind her as she could see would she was doing. They walked back up the stairs and into the kitchen.

'I just don't understand how you guys ended up throwing punches at one another,' Piper said.

'Yeah, I don't understand either, but we have to fix this because I don't want to leave with my baby sister hating me,' Prue replied.

Leo orbed in and gave them a look 'What?' Piper asked

'Did you guys have a falling out?' Leo looked at both of them.

The two sisters looked at each other 'Um… It was sorta a big battle, really,' Prue answered.

'Where's Paige?' he asked urgently

'She orbed out afterwards. What wrong?'

'Could someone explain this to me?' Emma walked in, holding up the Book of Shadows so everyone could see the broken triquetra on the cover.

'That's what's wrong!' Leo said.

'Oh my God!' Piper went over to examine the book, 'How could this happen? Prue isn't even Charmed anymore!' she exclaimed.

'That not all,' Leo turned to Prue 'Apparently, when the Power of Three broke apart, it made you alive again,'

Prue stared at him 'What?'

'You're just as alive as Piper or Emma!' Leo confirmed.

Prue still stared at him, she stunned; she had another chance! She was going to live again! Be Charmed again!

There was a surge of water in the middle of the floor that slowly took the form of Aidan. Prue, not knowing who he was, picked up a butcher knife and threw it at him.

Aidan noticed the knife just in time and became water, the knife passed right through his watery body and he took his original form.

'Not the warmest welcome I've ever had,' Aidan said.

Prue narrowed her eyes, 'Friend or foe?' she asked Piper

'Friend,' she turned to Aidan, 'Please tell me that Paige is with you,'

'Yeah, she showed up a wreck and I came here to find out why,' he folded his arms and looked at Prue.

'What?' she said

'Is it always your first instinct to throw a knife at a stranger?' he asked.

She glared at him 'No, usually I send them through a window with my powers, but I don't have them anymore,'

Aidan gave Piper a confused look, she sighed, 'We had a really big fight, it tore apart the Power of Three,' she showed him the book 'And now we've lost our powers, so could you do your best to Paige back here as soon as possible? Don't force her, just try and persuade her,'

Aidan nodded and splashed out.

'Okay. We're sitting ducks right now, so Prue, defend yourself without powers, you need the least protection, so stay near Emma, and I'll stay with Leo and the boys,'

'Wait, what about Paige?' Prue asked.

'Her boyfriend is the elemental guardian of water, she'll be fine with him,' Piper walked off with Leo.

Emma and Prue shared an awkward silence, before one of them broke it.

'You're like me, aren't you?' Prue asked.

Emma gave her a shocked look, then bowed her head, 'Yes,'

'Do Piper and Paige know?' Prue asked.

'No, and I'd like to keep it that way for now,' Emma replied.

'Fine by me. I don't want to make anymore enemies today,'

* * *

Paige orbed into the kitchen, and saw Emma and Prue sitting at the table, talking to each other. Emma noticed her friend had orbed in and stood up.

'I'll go get Piper,' she left the room and Paige took her seat.

'Aidan told me that we've lost our powers because of our fight,' Paige said, barely above a whisper, Prue merely nodded.

Piper walked in with Leo and Emma behind her 'Alright, are we ready for a little bit of group therapy?' she said.

'What?' Paige frowned in confusion.

'If you want your powers back you need to reconstitute your bond as sisters,' Leo replied, before leaving with Emma.

The three sat in silence for a while before Paige spoke up

'I'm sorry for the things I said to you, I didn't even mean any of them! It's just that… it took me a long time to accepted by this family and I was afraid that I would get pushed into the shadows when you came back,'

Prue took her hand 'Paige, I'm not here to replace you, and you're weren't brought into the world of magic to replace me, you're here to make your own destiny with your family.' Prue sighed and began again 'And for what it's worth, I'm sorry too, I tend to go on the defensive when I don't know someone,'

Paige smiled and put out her hand 'Friends?'

Prue was hesitant, but then shook her hand 'Let's just start off as sisters for now,'

Paige laughed 'Deal!'

Piper cleared her throat very loudly; she was obviously trying to get their attention. Prue and Paige smiled at each other and brought her into a three-way hug.

'We're sorry for the double 'shut up',' Prue said in a baby voice

'Yeah, really sorry!' Paige said.

'Yeah, yeah, I know. Now get offa me! I can't breath!' Piper wheezed

* * *

Leo and Emma sat in the living room with the children, the book began to give off a faint glow and the three points of the triquetra came back together, they smiled at each other.

'They're back…'

* * *

I hope that wasn't too boring for you! I just needed to sort out Paige and Prue's relationship! I hope you liked it!

Chapter 20 'Making The Effort' will be up soon!


	20. Making The Effort

wyatt333 – Don't worry! There is going to be a sequel called 'United As Three' and I will update 'What If' soon! I'm just having a bit of writer's block with it! And I saw your story and it didn't even occur to me that you might have copied me lol! Andy is a whitelighter in my story anyway so I have no problem ;)

Princess Pinky – LOL! Thanks for the compliments! I thought Prue's return would be a great twist! And the "You're just like me, aren't you?" part IS a secret! What is Emma hiding from the girls? If you think about it long enough, you'll realise what it is! And yes, there will be a short merge between the two stories eventually; I have another twist for that when the time comes!

**Making The Effort**

Piper and Paige were in GAP kids, shopping for new clothes for the boys. This wasn't an activity that Piper enjoyed, as Wyatt usually didn't want to try things on and would orb around the store, forcing Piper to freezeeveryone and chase him down. Wyatt had now started at Magic School and was doing well; he was free to use his powers and had finally stopped orbing home before lunchtime, which was when school for his age group ended.

Today was a good day though, Piper had taken him shopping after school and for some reason, he had made the minimum fuss so far, but Piper suspected that his Auntie Paige had secretly promised him ice cream if he behaved.

'What about this one, you two?' Piper pulled a sweater of the rack and showed it to Paige and Wyatt.

'Fine by me, kids fashion looks all the same in my eyes,' Paige replied.

'I don't like it!' Wyatt said simply.

Piper knelt down to look at her son 'Now, do you really not like it? Or are you just being difficult because you want to go home?' she got no answer, 'Okay, I'll get it since you have no objections,' she slung the sweater over her arm and continued walking down the isle, looking on the shelves.

'Why didn't you bring Chris today?' Paige asked.

'Didn't have to. Prue's looking after him,' Piper replied, not looking up from the clothes on the table.

'Oh… Shouldn't she be out job hunting?' she asked innocently.

Piper sighed and looked at her 'Paige,' she said in a warning tone.

Paige put up her hands 'What? I'm just saying!'

Since Prue was alive again, it had been necessary for her to not leave the house as she might be recognised and arrested for 'faking' her death! The sisters had found a way to fix this by casting a Power of Three 'Plus One' spell and altering the people of the world, all Prue had to do now was get her old job back!

'I seem to remember someone being unemployed and hopping from temp job to temp job,' Piper smirked at Paige.

'That was different. I was… trying to find myself,' Paige defended.

'Speaking of work, didn't your lunch break end, like,' Piper looked at her watch '15 minutes ago?'

Paige made a noise and waved her hand 'I blew the rest of the day off, it's a beautiful day and I didn't want to waste it by sitting at a desk!'

Piper laughed and continued of sift through the clothes 'So how's Aidan? I haven't seen him in a while,'

'Neither have I, he's working double shifts at the firehouse these days, so I only see him at aboutnine o'clock at night since he works fromsix in the morning,'

'He worksfifteen hour days!?'

'Yeah, but he says it'll lighten up soon, so all I can do is treasure the time we have with each other,'

'You mean booty calls in the Magic School library?' Piper smirked.

Paige glared at her 'No, we just rest with each other at night, just lie there,' Paige had a distant look in her eyes and she smiled 'It's nice,'

'Do I hear wedding bells and the 'pitter-patter' of tiny feet?' Piper joked.

'Not yet, but if Chris keeps on calling him uncle, he might as well be part of the family!'

Piper chuckled and made her way to the cash register to payfor her purchases.

'Alright little man! You want ice cream?' Paige knelt down and asked her oldest nephew. Wyatt nodded his head furiously 'We'd better bring some home for your little brother too! He'll be upset if knows he missed out in ice cream!' as they walked down the street, they enjoyed the spring time sunshine and their little piece of normality.

* * *

'Oops! Miss deLauro! I messed up again!' a pimple faced boy called from the corner of the classroom.

Emma groaned, she was teaching her Base Level freshman's class, not only were they new to the school and didn't have any idea on making potions, butthis class was full of delinquents who couldn't care less about their education, and the ones who did care were usually the clumsiest.

She watched as the spilled potion burned a hole into the floor and the misbehaving classmates ridiculed the boy.

'Settle down!' Emma said from the front of the class, she walked up the hole and cast a quick spell to get rid of it. Whispers of amazement came from the students, Emma groaned again; they were acting like they had never seen magic before in their life!

'Okay, after you've brought the potion to a simmer, bring it off the fire and add the crushed harpy talon. Now step away when adding it because it will make quite a large blast, so unless you want to burn your eyebrows off, I suggest you listen to me,'

Emma retreated back to her desk and realised the bell was going to ring soon.

'Okay guys, start to clean up! The bell's about to ring!' there was a dull sound of stools being dragged across the floor and a sloshing sound of students emptying their potion bowls into the sink.

Piper walked into the classroom, Prue had taken Chris to Magic School so that she could check out the place, she had left him in the nursery as she was wondering around the building and Piper had come to collect him.

'Hey, you busy?' Piper walked in with Chris at her side.

'Ugh, when aren't I?' Emma groaned.

'Well, I just stopped by to see if you had had a chance to talk to Paige yet,' Piper said

'Uh… You mean about getting to know Prue? Why don't you talk to her?'

'Because I'm her sister, I'm too close and I'm guessing by that answer that you haven't told her?'

'I'm sorry! I've just been so busy late…ly… No!' Emma shouted over Piper's shoulder. One of the students had accidentally knocked over around a dozen potions lined up on the counter. The mixture began to glow on the ground.

'Everyone get back!' Emma shouted, something told her this would domore than just burn a hole in the floor.

The students obeyed and backed away from the glowing and enlarging piece of the floor. The glow expanded extremely quickly all of a sudden and created a swirling vortex in the middle of the classroom. Emma, being the closest to the portal, became a mass of swirling particles and was sucked into the vortex.

'Emma!' Piper stepped forward out of concern. She could see that the portal was closing and she made the decision to jump in after her friend.

* * *

'Would you just give me a straight answer!?' Paige exclaimed, she had been trying to find out what had happened in Emma's class before she disappeared, Leo was comforting a crying Chris and Prue was telling Wyatt not to worry.

'I told you! 'Dweeb' over there knocked over a couple of potions and the teacher and some other chick got sucked in to a vortex!' one of the students piped up.

'Ugh! Alright, just go home,' Paige waved her hand and all the students orbed out, being sent to their respective homes.

She sighed and turned to Prue and Leo, 'What are we gonna do? Those kids were about as useful as talking to a brick wall!'

'Well, we can't give up! Piper and Emma aren't dead, they're just on a different plain, so you guys keep working and I'll drop the boys off at Sheila's and then I'llgo and check with the other Elders,' Leo brought Chris into his arms and took Wyatt's hand, then orbed out.

'Okay, I know one of your powers was telekinesis, but can any of your other tricks help us here?' Paige asked.

'Probably not, I don't see astral projection being too useful right now,' Prue bowed her head.

Paige sighed and examined the counter top where the student had knocked over the potions.

'What are you doing?'

'I thought Emma might have left some sort of label here to indicate what potions were sitting here,'

'I'll go check the supplies list and see if that'll help us,' Prue turned to leave.

'No, it's alright, I'll handle this, why don't you go back to job hunting?' Paige said innocently.

Prue sighed and put her hands on her hips 'Look Paige, I'm hating this arrangement just as much as you are, but if we want to get Piper and Emma back, then we have to work together!'

Paige looked up with a face like thunder, ready to retort, but she stopped, 'You're right. And who knows? This might help our relationship,'

Prue smiled, 'That's the spirit! Okay, let's put our heads together and think!' Prue frowned in thought. Paige knelt down and touched the floor.

'It's still wet,' she said.

'What does that mean?'

'It means that there's still residue of the vortex, which means that we still have the ability to open it,'

Prue caught on 'All we need is a spell that can tap into the residual energy and create another portal!'

Paige smiled triumphantly, 'Exactly!' but her smile faded, 'But what if we don't have enough power to open the portal with a spell?'

'We will. I don't mean to brag, but being the oldest, that makes me the strongest and you're half whitelighter so that makes you doubly magical! We pull this off!' Prue winked.

Paige chuckled, 'Alright, you stay here and work on the spell, I'll go home and get some ammo in case our powers don't work in where ever we're going,' Paige orbed out.

* * *

'I still don't think this is a good idea,' Leo voiced his concerns about their plan again, Aidan felt the same way.

'Leo, we're the Charmed Ones, when have we ever made a mistake?' Prue asked. Leo opened his mouth to answer the question, but was cut off 'It was a rhetorical question,' Prue snapped.

'It's not the plan we're worried about, it's the fact that you could be left powerless in this other world and you won't be able to get back!' Aidan replied.

'Ah… That's why Prue and I drank this!' she held up a potion bottle 'This potion ensures that our powers stay with us through time and space! Big Chris gave me the recipe before he… you know…' Paige bowed her head, remembering her nephew from the future but she lightened up again, 'Anyway, this was how he kept his powers when he went back in time and hopefully it'll work where we're going! We brought some for Piper and Emma when we find them,'

Leo sighed and looked at Aidan, 'They're not gonna win, they'll go no matter what we say,'

Prue smiled at their victory 'Exactly, so let's get going! You guys better stand back in case you get sucked in!' she held out the spell so Paige could see it.

'Reaching out through time and space

Leading us, to the certain place

That we seek within this hour

Take us to our sisters power,'

There was a glow on the floor and the portal opened, Paige and Prue smiled at their work before blowing up into particles and entered the vortex.

* * *

The two sisters reappeared in Magic School, it looked the same except that the place hadbroken desks all over it, rusty potion pots, and spider webs were in every corner of the room, and it looked like hadn't been used for years!

'Well… it looks… sorta different!' Paige grimaced.

'Yeah, we'll deal with this later, we'd better test our powers, can you orb?' Prue questioned.

'Uh… I dunno…' Paige scrunched up her face and orbed out, then reappeared in the same spot.

She looked at Prue, 'Did I orb?'

Prue laughed 'Yes,' she waved her hand lightly at a chair in the corner, smashing it off the wall and making the old chair shatter into a pile of wood shards.

'Wow, your potion worked!'

'You sound surprised,' Paige commented.

'Yeah, well-,' she was cut off by a noise out in the corridor.

'Lets go,' Prue whispered.

The two of them cautiously made their way into the corridor; Prue turned the corner but immediately turned around and pulled Paige back.

'Darklighters! Lots of them!' Prue whispered, her little sister peered round the corner, seeing a about six darklighters huddled around a fire in the potion building main hall.

'I'll take care of them,' Paige orbed out, despite her sisters warnings.

She reappeared in between two of the beings 'Hi there!' they both grabbed their crossbows and fired at the same time. Paige orbed out, causing the two to vanquish each other. She orbed back in behind the other four, throwing out her arm forcefully and sending them sending them flying.

'Crossbow!' Paige called, orbing a crossbow that was sitting on the floor; she fired it at one of the darklighters, vanquishing him. The others conjured their crossbows and fired, Paige thought quickly and waved her hand at a nearby table to make it come up in front of her and shield her.

She walked around the table 'Arrows!' she orbed the arrows out from the surface of the table and sent them in three directions, making the remaining darklighters burst into flames.

Prue walked out 'Wow, I take back what Isaid about you being useless last week!' she exclaimed.

'Thanks…' Paige breathed 'C'mon, let's go to the Manor and figure out what's going on!' she hooked arms with her big sister and orbed out.

* * *

Prue and Paige appeared in the attic. Both of them grimaced at its current condition

'Ugh, it's worst than Magic School…' Paige stated.

'At least we agree on something…' Prue made a face as she closed the window that was rattling in the wind, 'It's so dark…' she was right, dark storm clouds hung over the city, there was no one to be seen on the streets, and the only sound was the eerie moan of the wind, it was a ghost town.

Paige joined her at the window, 'I know, I hope Piper and Emma didn't get the warm welcome we did,'

'Or worse…' Prue whispered, Paige put an arm around her shoulder.

'Do you think we're on the ghostly plain?' Paige asked

Prue shook her head vigorously 'No. The ghostly plain may be a plain shaped on our world, but there's no dirt,' Prue wiped the window ledge, showing all the dust, 'There's no wind, it's just… blank. And besides, what would darklighters be doing on the ghostly plain?'

Paige walked over to the table 'Well, here's one good sign,' she picked up something.

'What?' Prue turned from the window.

Paige showed her a picture of all of them, 'We exist… or we _did_exist,'

Prue walked up to her and examined the picture; it was of her, Piper and someone who was covered by the dust on the photo. She blew off the dust to reveal the person to the right in the photo, it was Paige!

'Do you remember taking this?' Prue asked her

'Hmm… no, but I do remember that red hair! I had that a couple years ago!' she exclaimed.

'And that would be after I died…' Prue whispered.

'What's your point?'

She turned to Paige, 'What if we're in some alternate reality? One where, somehow, I wasn't the Charmed One that died five years ago? What if it was someone else? A someone who is missing from this picture?'

'… Phoebe?'

'Exactly, c'mon, we need to find the other 'us',' Prue knelt down and pulled up a floorboard.

'What are you doing?'

Prue turned around to reveal that she had pulled a crystal and map from the floor

'I knew doing this would pay off someday!' she said triumphantly, she pulled a book out of the floor as well, 'Here,' she handed the scrying tools to Paige 'You find us, and I'll see what can help us in here,' she began to flip the pages of the little book.

'What's that?'

Prue smiled proudly 'My little book of spells and potions! All made by me!'

Paige sighed and began to spin the crystal over the map, it immediately landed on Prescott Street.

'I think this is just showing ourselves where we are,' Paige said.

'Keep trying,' Prue was still flipping the pages of the book.

Paige tried four more times, and got the same result each time. She suddenly realised something,

'I was thinking… what if the crystal is actually finding our other selves?'

'That would mean that…' Prue caught on, 'They're in the house with us!'

Paige nodded and stood up, putting the scrying tools under her arm, and slowly ventured down the stairs.

The two of them stood at the landing, seeing if there was anyone there, they heard voices.

'I was just informedthat someone took out the legion of darklighters at Magic School,' it was Leo's voice.

'What?' it was Paige's voice, 'Who has the kind ofpower to do that besides us?'

'Who cares?' it was Piper's voice, 'It's not as if they were annoying us,'

'Or maybe it was another gang of demons just wanting the turf…' Prue spoke that time.

'Can we worry about this later? We have bigger enemies than some petty darklighters,' Paige spoke again.

'You're right, I'll go get the book,' they heard Prue's footsteps coming towards the stairs. Unfortunately, Prue and Paige didn't react quickly and were spotted.

'Paige! Piper!' Prue shouted.

'Prue do something!' Paige hissed, Prue complied and sent her counterpart flying.

'I didn't mean that!' Paige scolded her as she ran down the stairs to reason with her counterpart and Piper, 'Listen, we just want to talk!' both sisters were stopped in their tracks by Piper stomping her foot, vines began to break through the floor and constrict Paige and Prue!

'If you wanted to talk, why did you attack us?' Piper asked, this reminded Paige of the time when she had ended up in a twisted reality made by Cole, because Piper was dressed in leather pants, a dark black top and combat boots.

'Wow, she really had a handle on her new power, doesn't she?' Prue said, fighting the vines.

Leo was helping Alt. Prue back on to feet, 'How do we know you're not just shape shifters?'

Paige sighed, 'Okay, first of all, if we were shape shifters, why would we disguise ourselves as you when you are here? And second of all, can I shape shifter do this?' Paige clenched her eyes shut and orbed out of the vines. She reappeared behind Prue and telekinetically freed her from the vines.

'Hold on, that isn't my power,' Alt. Paige said

'What?' her counterpart said, 'You can't orb?'

'No, I can, but I don't have telekinesis…' Alt. Paige glared at her oldest sister.

'Oh don't start this again…' Alt. Prue groaned

'You get to move things with your mind, Piper gets to mess about with molecules, and what do I get? I get premonitions and the power to play with peoples feelings!' Alt. Paige exclaimed.

'And you can orb…' Alt. Piper said weakly

'What you can't do this? Book of Shadows!' Paige randomly called for the book, she didn't know where it was, but she knew her orbs would find it. Sure enough, the book appeared in a flurry of orbs in her outstretched arms.

'Hey! How did you do that?' Alt. Paige whined.

'With my powers!' Paige beamed.

'Okay, I think I know why she doesn't have the same powers, but bare with me, this is gonna be a long explanation,' Prue took a deep breath, 'The prophecy of the Charmed Ones is one sister will move things with her mind, one will stop time, and one will see into the future. We're not the Charmed Ones unless these powers are spread among us. So, since Phoebe had the power of premonition and since she died in this world, Paige was given premonitions in order to make her a Charmed One! The only reason you got my power was because I died in our world, not Phoebe,'

'Hold on! You all need to explain this to us!' Alt. Prue exclaimed.

All five women and Leo sat down and explained everything, it took a while, but after all their questions had been answered, it was Prue and Paige's turn for questions.

'So, what happened to this world after Phoebe died?' Prue asked, regretting it instantly, this would obviously be a sore subject for the sisters of this world.

Piper took a deep breath, 'Um… well obviously, we found Paige, and we were happy! But when the Titans showed up…'

'We didn't have the power to defeat them, even after we became the goddesses of Time, Earth and War,' Prue finished.

'Time?' Paige asked, then realised that Phoebe hadn't been here to be the Goddess of Love, Prue as the Goddess of Time must have replaced her.

'I better go check with the other Elders and see what they know,' Leo walked out of the room.

'Why didn't he just orb out here?' Prue asked.

The sisters of this world looked at each other nervously, what were they hiding? 'Uh… I dunno you'll have to ask him,' Piper smiled nervously.

Paige eyed the three of them curiously, 'Um, Prue? Can I talk to you in the kitchen for a minute?'

Prue gave her a strange look; 'Um… sure,' she followed Paige into the run down kitchen.

'Something's not right, I'm getting a shiver from them,' Paige whispered.

'Um… yeah! That's because it's freezing in here and you're dressed for spring,' Prue said, walking out the door, but Paige caught her arm.

'No! You don't understand, the only other time that I've had this kind of shiver is when I'm around the evil counterparts of our world!'

'Are you saying you think they're evil?' Prue hissed.

'It would explain why they're not hiding in this horrible world, and…' Paige stopped in mid sentence and looked over Prue's shoulder, 'What's that?' she pointed to something. Prue turned around and saw a small glowing light, it looked like an orb, but on closer inspection, it wasn't.

'Piper…' Prue whispered, the light began to move in the direction of the basement. The two sisters walked down the basement steps, where, in their world, they would be entering Prue's room, as there was nowhere else for her to sleep.

'Oh my God!' Prue gasped, there was an activated crystal cage in the basement, with Piper and Emma sitting in it.

'See?! I told you my spell would work!' the little glowing light went over to Piper and disappeared.

'Oh my God! What are you guys doing in here?' Paige asked.

'Oh, we were just seeing what demons feel like when they're trapped in this thing,' Emma said sarcastically, 'Why do you think we're in here?!'

'Okay, calm down!' Paige replied, she pulled up her hand preparing to orb the crystals away, but a voice echoed in the air.

'So you figured it out…' the counterpart's dark orbed into the basement.

'So that's why Leo went into another room, so we wouldn't see black orbs, he probably didn't even go to the Elders, did he?' Prue growled.

'Sorry,' Alt. Paige said, 'But we can't let leave…' she locked eyes with Prue and made her fall to the floor, gasping for breath.

'Paige! She's telempathic! Like me!' Emma squealed from the cage, so that was Alt. Paige's other power.

'Uh… Crystals! Circle!' Paige commanded, the crystals surrounding Piper and Emma disappeared and trapped the evil Charmed Ones.

'C'mon! Hurry!' Paige brought together everyone and orbed out and went to the classroom in Magic School.

'Paige! The reversal spell! If evil me is still telekinetic, then the cage won't hold them for long!' Prue said.

Paige nodded vigorously and held out a crumpled piece of paper

'Reaching out through time and space

Leading us, to the certain place

That we seek within this hour

Take us to our former power,'

All four of them chanted and the vortex opened up again, sucking them all in and sending them home.

* * *

It was quite late now, Piper and Emma had gone to bed, after the events of the day, they both needed rest. Paige walked into the kitchen and saw Prue sitting at the table, staring at the tea mug in her hands.

'Piper told me you were always the first up and last down…' Paige smiled, Prue chuckled hollowly 'What's wrong?'

Prue sighed, 'I'm just thinking… that world was plunged into darkness because Phoebe died… and when I look at this world, things are so much better, because _I_ died…'

Paige sighed, 'You can't think like that, it's pointless to worry about a thing that you had absolutely no control over. And don't forget, you're alive again, so maybe you died so that you could… come back some day and make the world even better,'

Prue looked up, 'I never thought of it that way,' she smiled, 'Anyway, I'll see you in the morning!' she stood up and went over to the basement door.

'Good night… sis…' Paige quickly walked away after that. Prue smiled; maybe her baby sister wasn't so bad after all.

* * *

Okay! Did you like that? What a twist! And you all thought that the evil Charmed Ones were good! LOL!

I haven't decided on a plot for the next chapter, so I don't have a title! But I'll be thinking of one when I'm updating my 'What If' fic! Go check it out!


	21. It's All Elementary

CuteLittleBritt – YAY! You're back! I was hoping you would review again sometime soon! I hope you got past your writers block! Please keep reviewing!

Princess Pinky – Yeah, I'm not fond of the kids either, he may be 2 years old, but Wyatt just looks so arrogant! I hope I didn't confuse you with all the different Charmed Ones lol! (I confused myself sometimes lol!). They don't have an Evil Prue, eh? Well, you never know, there may have been consequences to Prue's return ;)

wyatt333 – Shhhh! Don't tell anyone if you've figured it out lol! It's one of the secrets of the story! If you reread 'R and R Part 2' and pay attention to where the word 'aunt' is used, you'll see who Mel's mother is!

Rob – Thanks! I didn't even realise that I wasn't accepting anonymous reviews until someone alerted me! Hopefully I'll be getting a lot more reviews from now on! I really hope I've portrayed the characters well! I'm glad you've liked it so far, keep reviewing!

**It's All Elementary**

'So when's this person get here?' Paige asked.

'Uh… I don't really know, but she is here first, she likes the wind,' Aidan replied.

'Well, obviously, if she is the Elemental Guardian of Wind!'

Paige and Aidan had been standing on top of the Golden Gate Bridge for an hour, it was dark now and beginning to get cold. This was something Aidan did every month, he had to meet with the other Elementals and perform some sort of ritual to keep the world in balance. They would meet here and then go a secret holy spot, the location was even hidden from the Elders, and Paige was going see it!

'Oh! Here she comes!' Aidan pointed to something coming towards them, as it got closer, Paige could see that it was a large majestic bird! Its feathers were pearly white and literally glowed. The bird landed on the bridge with a soft thud and began to shrink and took the form of a teenage girl.

'Phew!' the girl straightened out her jeans, 'The wind was hell on the way here!' she grinned.

'Is that a good thing?' Paige asked.

'Are you kidding?! It was great! I even used my powers to set up a lightning bolt obstacle course for myself!' the girl grinned again.

'Paige, this is Skye McKenzie, Skye, this is Paige Matthews,' Aidan introduced them.

'Hi… No offence, but you look a bit young for an Elemental,' Paige said

'None taken! Unlike the rest of us, I've been an Elemental since birth, so I'm a lot more experienced than the rest of these old guys!' Skye winked.

Paige laughed, 'You're wings are beautiful by the way!'

'Thanks! But you should see Aidan's scales when he turns into his Elemental Form! They sparkle! Especially in the water!'

Paige looked at Aidan, who avoided the gaze, 'You can do that? You can transform?'

'Uh oh, did I blurt something out?' Skye grimaced

Aidan turned to his girlfriend, 'My form is a lot bigger and scarier than Skye's, you don't want to see it,'

'Oh! Look! Here comes Danielle!' there was something in the sky, it was approaching from a different direction than Skye had. Paige gasped as it landed and she realised it was a dragon.

Aidan almost read her thoughts, 'Yes, my form is even scarier than that!'

A woman with flaming red hair was standing in place of the dragon; she looked slightly younger than Paige was looking very impatient.

'Hmph! Late… as usual!' Danielle exclaimed.

'Oh c'mon Danny! Matt's always late! Don't gripe about it!' Skye said cheerfully.

'Well sorry Skye, but I don't find the trip here to be a joy ride like you do!' she snapped.

'Fire Elemental,' Aidan whispered, 'Short tempered and very stubborn,' Paige simply nodded.

'Who the hell are you?' Danielle asked calmly

'Um… I'm Paige… Paige Matthews!' Paige was intimidated by this woman's manner.

'She's Aidan's new girlfriend,' Skye explained.

The Fire Elementals eyes widened, 'And you brought her her?! Are you crazy?!'

'Whoa! Don't have a stroke Danny! Not only is she my girlfriend, but she's a Charmed One,'

'So? She shouldn't be here! Matt will tell you the same if he ever gets here!'

'Tell him what?' a voice echoed, everyone looked up to see a lion standing on one of the pillars, it jumped down and came towards them, padding softly on the metal.

'Matt! Tell Aidan that he shouldn't have brought his fling up here!' Danielle spat.

The lion became a tall, dark haired man, 'Danielle, that's enough!' he turned to Paige, 'I'm sorry, but even though you are a Charmed One, we can't risk anyone finding the sacred place, I hope you understand,' he said apologetically.

_At least he asked nicely _Paige thought, 'Sure, it was nice meeting… most of you,' she glared at Danielle before orbing out.

The redhead just stood with her jaw dropped, 'What's the matter, Danny? You trying to catch flies with that open mouth?' Sky laughed.

* * *

Paige was lying awake in her bed, she felt the other side sink and rolled over to see Aidan sitting on the edge of the bed. 

'How'd your staff meeting go?' Paige joked

Aidan let out a small laugh, 'It went fine, the world is balanced for another month,' he walked over to the closet and put his sweater in.

'What's up with Danielle?' Paige sneered.

He chuckled, 'Danny and I don't get along well, it's because we're opposing elements, literally! Skye and Matt don't get along either, but they're a little more subtle,' he climbed into bed after stripping down to his t-shirt and boxers, he put a protective arm around Paige and she moved closer.

'What does your Elemental form look like?'

'Hmm? Why do you want to know that?'

'No reason. Just wondering,'

'Well, it's not really that important, I'm more comfortable in my human form so the chances of you seeing it are slim,'

'But I'm still curious,' Paige replied

'Look, Paige, just drop it, please?' he snapped.

Paige wondered why his powers were such a sensitive subject for him; he never had any trouble using them to help her fight demons, what was the big deal?

* * *

Prue emerged from her basement bedroom, squinting her eyes as the sunlight cam through the kitchen door. The smell of Piper's delicious breakfast had woke her up. As her eyes adjusted, she saw Leo trying to feed the boys while Piper made breakfast for the rest of the house. 

'Wow, it's so strange for you to be up earlier than me,' Prue groaned, Piper just chuckled.

Emma walked in, yawning and picking a bowl out of the cupboard, she picked up a box of Granola and shook it over her bowl, only a couple of flakes fell out.

'Alright! Who ate all the Granola? I thought I was the only one that liked it!' Leo walked nervously past her with an empty cereal bowl, she noticed and glared at him, 'Leo!' Emma whined.

'Emma calm down, just put it on the list on the refrigerator and Paige will pick some up later, it's her turn to do the shopping,' Piper replied calmly as she moved some eggs about a pan.

'Morning,' Paige orbed in.

'Hey, personal gain! Use the stairs!' Prue scolded her while getting a plate down from the shelf.

'I'm too tired to move, can someone just push me into a chair?' Paige moaned.

'Wild night?' Emma wiggled her eyebrows/

'No,' Paige glared at her, 'A sleepless one,' she sat down, 'Plate,' she called weakly for a plate from the shelf.

'Hey! Stop doing that!' Piper said, 'Or you won't be getting breakfast!'

'Mmm… that'll mean more for us, right Prue?' Emma smirked

'Definitely!' Prue smirked back.

As if to break the setting of this perfect morning, Aidan walked in with less than normal news, 'Uh… You guys? I think we have a problem,' he pulled up his sleeve to reveal that his arm was covered in scales!

* * *

Paige touched his arm, making his arm flex and therefore making the scales ripple, 'Okay, that's slightly unnerving,' she stated. 

'Leo…' Piper began

'I'll go check with the Elders,' he smiled at her before orbing out.

'I'll go check the Book of Shadows to see if there's a way to stop your boyfriend from turning into Godzilla,' Prue patted Paige's shoulder before walking out the kitchen.

Sensing that they need a private moment, Emma made an excuse, 'Um… We should go as well,' she nudged Piper, 'Cause we have… the thing… you know?' Piper caught on to her hint.

'Oh right! The thing! Let's go!' the two picked up Wyatt and Chris and left.

Paige lifted his arm again, examining the scales and noticing how beautiful they looked as the morning sun reflected off them.

She suddenly remembered something that Skye had said,

Thanks! But you should see Aidan's scales when he turns into his Elemental Form! They sparkle! Especially in the water!

Paige was about question him about it but was interrupted by a crash from upstairs, 'Paige!' Piper called from the attic.

Aidan and Paige ran through the attic door, expecting to find a demon, but the girls were surrounding something on the floor.

'There was a tornado, she appeared, and had quite a bumpy landing,' Emma informed them, the two walked past the others to see a girl with wings for arms, lying on top of the remains of a table.

'Oh my God!' Aidan knelt down next to the unconscious girl, 'Skye!'

* * *

Aidan carried the knocked out teenager into the living room and put her down on the sofa. 

'Who is she?' Prue whispered to Paige

'She's the Wind Elemental,' she whispered back

Leo orbed in and gave a confused look to the girl on the couch. Piper mouthed 'Don't ask' and nodded her head to show he should tell them what he knew while Aidan healed Skye.

'What did the Elders say?' Emma asked, sitting down on the chair opposite of the two elementals

'Well, they don't know much but they do know that the Elementals are bound together strongly by their magic, so if something like this is happening to Aidan, then it's happening to the rest to them,'

'Yeah, we know that,' Piper nodded her head in Skye's direction, 'Wind Elemental,' she answered.

Paige knelt down next to her boyfriend and noticed he was sweating, 'You okay?' she pressed the back of her hand to his forehead.

'Yeah… I'm fine… It's just it's never been this hard to heal someone before…' he said, 'It's taking a bit of a toll,'

'Why? You heal people all the time and have no trouble,' she replied.

'Yeah, I know, maybe it's whatever is effecting her is fighting my healing,'

Paige put her hand over Skye and began to help heal, her wounds disappeared in seconds and she woke up.

'Or maybe whatever is wrong with you is effecting your powers,' Paige said.

Skye wearily opened her eyes, 'Uh… Aidan..? Ugh…' she closed her eyes again.

'Skye? Skye!' Aidan shook her gently, but then a little more forcefully when she didn't respond. She suddenly began to shake violently and scream, the feathers that had covered her arms were now working up her shoulders

'Stand aside,' Emma proclaimed, she began to use her telempathy, sending the image of a lone eagle flying into Skye's head, in an attempt to calm her down and slowly, she began to calm.

'Why didn't you just send her a telempathic blast?' Paige asked

'Because I thought I would take the gentle approach,' Emma replied calmly, she was about to say something else, but was interrupted by the thud of Aidan falling to the floor.

'Oh my God!' Paige was immediately at his side, helping him onto the couch. He gritted his teeth in pain as he pulled up his sleeve to reveal that the scales had spread

* * *

Paige was spinning a crystal over a map; they had all decided that they might have a better chance of helping Aidan and Skye if they could find Matt and Danielle. 

Leo dragged Aidan into the crystal cage, along with Skye. He stepped out and put the last crystal in place, it made a humming sound to confirm that it had been put in the right place.

'Okay, Piper put a spell on the crystals so the cage will act like a life support system, they'll be safe for about six hours,' Leo said.

'Where's Prue?'

'Oh, she had to go into 415 and hand in her photo's, she'll be back soon,'

She sighed and stopped spinning the crystal, 'Dammit! Why isn't this working!' she ran a hand through her hair, getting it out of eyes.

'What are you scrying with?' Leo enquired

'A scale from Aidan and a feather from Skye,' she answered

'But they don't belong to the other elementals,'

'Yeah, I know, but these things,' she waved the scale and feather, 'Are part of their powers, and since they're all connected by their powers, it should work,'

'That's a bit of a long shot, don't you think?'

'Leo, it's the only shot I have!' she glared at him, then sighed, 'I'm sorry, it's just… I can't lose him, Leo,' she whispered, she went back to the map and a tear dropped onto the crystal, which for some reason, made it drop on a place immediately.

Paige's eyes widened, 'Piper! Emma! Let's go!' she shouted and turned to Leo, 'Okay, keep looking in the book for a clue to what demon is doing this, and keep an eye on them, will you?'

Piper and Emma walked into the attic; each had vanquishing potions in their hands,

'What are those for?' Paige asked.

'Well, these guys keep the planet's balance, right?' Emma asked. Paige nodded, 'So there probably will be a lot of demons wanting to kill them now that the Elementals are weakened so we may need these,' she flashed the potions.

'Okay, good thinking,' the youngest Charmed One nodded weakly.

'Paige, we're going to save him,' Piper reassured her

'Yeah, I know, are we ready?' Piper and Emma nodded and linked arms with Paige.

'Chris is taking a nap downstairs, and Wyatt is at school, if we're not back by twelve, you'll need to pick him up! Bye!' Piper orbed out with the girls without giving Leo time to reply.

* * *

Paige, Piper, and Emma appeared in the middle of an apartment, it looked a mess! Paige was immediately thinking that whatever Elemental has here, their place had ended up like this due to a demon attack. 

'So what are we dealing with? Fire or Earth?' Piper thought aloud.

Paige was about to answer when she heard a cough come from the other side of the counter, she ran round to find Matt on the floor, bleeding badly and breathing his last breath, his hands had also turned into claws, just like Aidan and Skye had feathers and scales. Paige put her hands over his wounds, attempting to heal them, but he pushed her hands away.

'It's… my… time… Protect… Danielle…' he whispered.

Paige bowed her head, 'Emma, do your best to make him comfortable,'

Emma nodded and moved to the side of Matt, sending him a psionic blast so he wouldn't feel pain in his last moments.

Piper began looking through the cupboards, before Paige stopped her,

'What the hell are you doing?! Don't you think that's a little disrespectful?!' she exclaimed.

'Look, we don't have time to go home, scry for Fire, and end up losing her too, he must have an address or something!' she rummaged through the drawers, 'Aha! Got something!' she pulled out a necklace with a fire emblem emblazoned on the pendent.

'It's a bit like the necklace I got you for Christmas,' Paige commented.

'C'mon, we can find with this now!' Piper said triumphantly

Emma walked over, 'He's gone now, what do you want to do?'

Paige sighed, 'I'll call Darryl later, but first, do you think you could locate Fire with this necklace?' she handed it to Emma.

Emma closed her eyes to concentrate, she could use her telempathy to track down people, and when she opened her eyes, she had located Danielle.

* * *

When they orbed in, Piper, Paige and Emma had no idea this place was a battlefield! A demon was killed by a stream of fire coming from a woman who was slumped against the wall; another demon conjured an energy ball to finish her but was blown up by Piper before he had the chance to make a move. 

Paige approached Danielle but was warded off by a fire stream, 'Back Off…' Danielle growled.

'Paige, look,' Emma brought her attention to the fact that Danielle was covered in scales and that her teeth had enlarged.

'Dragons are naturally violent creatures, her Elemental side is suppressing her human one,' Emma explained.

Paige suddenly realised what was happening to all of the Elementals, she had to act fast, 'Piper, freeze her,'

'What? But she's still a witch so-,'

'Just do it,'

Piper groaned and made the hand motion and to her surprise, the woman froze.

'C'mon,' Paige gathered them together, 'Let's get outta here!'

* * *

The three remaining Elementals were now knocked out with a sleeping potion and being kept alive through the life support cage. Paige was sitting with Aidan's head on her lap, stroking his hair and making sure he was okay. 

'Do you think it's safe? I mean Danielle tried to kill you last time,' Leo replied, he was against their plan.

'Leo, this is our only chance, time is running out with the cage and we don't have a spell or potion to fix them. What's the worse that could happen?'

Leo sighed, 'You're going to do this even without my consent, aren't you?'

She gave him a quick peck on the lips and patted his chest, 'Of course. Is Prue home yet?'

'Yes,' Prue walked into the attic and saw the current situation, 'Wow, I take I've missed a lot,'

'Yeah! I thought you were only handing in your assignment?'

'I was, but then I got dragged into a meeting… it's a long and boring story,' she replied.

'Ugh! Fine! You're just in time,' Piper smirked

'For what?'

'You'll see, is the spell finished?' she asked Emma, who was sitting at the table with a pen and paper.

'Yeah, I've cracked it!' She said with a smile.

'Okay,' she turned to Paige, 'We're ready,'

Paige looked up, 'Okay,'

After a couple of minutes, everyone had orbed out to carry out the plan.

* * *

'Just set them down over there,' Paige ordered, Leo began dragging the Elementals across the sand. They had orbed to a secluded beach where no one would see what they were doing. 

'Could someone fill me in please?' Prue asked, completely clueless

'It's simple, all of them are fighting the change to their Elemental form, and it's hurting them, so we use this spell to help them let go and hopefully cure them,' Emma explained.

'Uh… guys? We might want to hurry! Danielle looks like she's gonna wake up!' Paige exclaimed. It was true, she was waking up and if she did, she might attack again.

'Let go of the struggle in your mind

And your health again, you will find,'

The four witches chanted the spell, and stepped back, as there were lights of blue, purple and red coming from the Elementals. They all had to turn away from light as the glow became even stronger. When it faded, everyone gasped at the divine sights before them.

In Danielle's place, stood a large red dragon, although it looked scary, it had serenity about it. Its scales glowed with the heat of fire and it was staring at the sky.

In Skye's place, stood a majestic bird, it softly padded the sand underneath it's feet and cooed slightly. It was a magnificent sight when it ruffled its feathers and took off.

Paige gasped at the creature that was standing in place of her boyfriend; it had to be the most beautiful thing all of them had ever seen. A giant sea serpent was on the sand; its scales shimmered in the sunlight as it swayed back and forth, making it look like a rainbow. The creature lowered its head the nudged Paige, who smiled and stroked the magnificent beast.

The dragon took off into the sky along with the bird, showing off their massive wingspans. The serpent nudged Paige again before swiftly turning round and jumping into the ocean. Paige remembered Skye's words about how his Aidan's scales sparkled in the sea, she had been right.

* * *

Paige sat in her bed reading a magazine with the dim glow of an orb lighting up the page. There was a surge to water on the floor and Aidan appeared. 

'Hey stranger,' Paige greeted him with a warm smile, 'Enjoy your swim?'

'Yes,' he smiled and sat on the bed next her, resting his hand on her leg, 'Thanks to you,'

'Any idea why you guys got ill?' Paige asked

'Um… that was my fault, because all of our powers are connected, when I was fighting my Elemental form, the others did too and… Matt lost his life because of it…'

Paige laid her hand on his, 'Don't blame yourself, Matt doesn't blame you,'

'I guess…'

'And… for what it's worth, you looked amazing out there, why were you trying to hide it from me?'

Aidan laughed, 'What would you rather have? Me or a fifty foot sea serpent?'

'Mmm… tough choice,' Paige joked 'But I'd have to say you,'

'Thought so,' he leaned in and kissed her passionately, cupping her cheeks with his hands as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Paige was left stunned, 'Definitely you…' she whispered.

He stood up, 'I have to work to tonight, so I'll see you at breakfast. I love you,'

Paige smiled after he splashed out, 'I love you too…'

* * *

Did you like that? I thought I would do a bit of an Aidan-centric chapter, it just felt right!

I didn't realise I wasn't accepting anonymous reviews but I've changed it so if can't be bother signing in, still review!

Chapter 22 'Pressing Charges' will be up soon!


	22. Pressing Charges

Sorry it took a while to update! but I think you'll agree that it's worth it after you see the thing that's at the bottom of the page! But read this first lol!

Princess Pinky - I promise to explain about the Earth Elemental soon! And i have read 'The Brewing Storm' but the last chapter was just my version of it lol! Thanks for reviewing!

wyatt333 - Don't worry! the sea serpent will show itself again lol! I'm not sure if Piper's going to have another kid, we'll just have to wait and see! Thanks for reviewing!

piperfairy63 - Thanks for the advice! You're going to love this chapter! i'm been planning it a long time! ;)

CuteLittleBritt - I'm glad you like the pairing! I pondered over a love interest for Paige, I even thought about Jesse at one point lol! But i'm happy with Aidan, and in the REALLY far away future, there's going to be atwist with him!

andy20 - See? i updated lol! i hopeyou're happy with this chapter!

**Pressing Charges**

Thunder crashed over Baker High on that wet and windy morning, the old windows of one of the first floor English classrooms rattled. Pamela Walker sat at the back of the class, watching the rain trickle down the window and disappear when it reached the bottom.

She brought out of her daze when a metre ruler was slammed down on her desk, frightening her and causing her to knock her stuff off the desk. The rest of the students erupted with laughter as Pamela scrambled to pick up her textbooks. She had long dark hair and striking blue eyes, which was the part of her appearance that she loved the most. Most guys thought she was pretty, but were afraid to come near due to the fact that she was the butt of all the popular peoples jokes.

Pamela huffed and blew a strand of hair out of her eyes, why was she always the one to get caught out like this? She looked up to see that Christie, the most popular girl in her year, had kicked most of her stuff down the isle.

Christie smirked at her, Pamela just smirked back. This was her perfect chance to scare the crap out of her! Pamela glared at the pile of papers and they moved back into her hands! Christie's eyes widened and Pamela just sat back into her chair, grinning to herself.

'I don't see why you're grinning, Miss Walker, have you been listening at all this period,' her boring English teacher, Mr Canterbury asked her.

'Not a word,' she was in a defiant mood today, not to mention the fact that she was actually telling the truth.

'That's it! I tolerated your behaviour last week! But not now! Come see me at break!' he walked back up to the front of the classroom. Pamela's grin immediately extinguished when he said that, he would probably keep her in for a detention. She already had to stay behind until four thirty because of detention from Biology class this morning. She groaned and let her head fall to the desk.

'I hate Mondays…'

* * *

Pamela moved along the line in the cafeteria, her detention at break had gone quickly, she had just zoned out while Mr. Canterbury shouted her. Before she knew it, the bell had rang and she went to her next class. 

She walked from the counter and went over to a table, but she didn't get far without Christie bumping into her intentionally and causing her to drop her food on the floor. The cafeteria erupted in laughter and Christie smirked, 'Oops,' she put her hand to her mouth, holding her food tray with one hand, 'Sorry!' she said sweetly before walking away.

'Not as sorry as you're gonna be…' Pamela murmured to herself, she made a small movement with her hand and telekinetically tripped up Christie, send her to the ground with her face landing in her lunch! The room exploded with laughter again, Pamela smiled to herself and walked off to the library.

* * *

'Mr. Malcolm, can I come back tomorrow and do this? My shift starts at the coffee shop soon,' Pamela asked weakly from the hamster cage, her punishment had been to clean out all the animal cages, but with the help of her powers, it wasn't that bad. 

'No,' the teacher said flatly

'What? But I need to! I have-,'

'I said no!' the teacher stood up from his desk, 'You can never leave!' his voice had went deep… and demonic!

Pamela swirled around just in time to see her Biology teacher transform into a hideous creature! He had short horns coming from his head and horrible red skin.

'Die! Witch!' he growled and threw an energy ball at her, Pamela shot out her hands and the energy ball blew up. She threw out her arm to the side, telekinetically picking up one of the empty cages and throwing it at the demon, but it hardly fazed him.

The demon chuckled and advanced on her, Pamela just sighed and blew out into the air, a cloud of frost flew from her mouth, enveloping the creature and when it had disappeared, he was entombed in a block of ice.

Pamela flicked her wrists and the ice shattered, along with the demon.

'I don't believe this! That's the third teacher I've killed this month!' Pamela shouted and put her hands on her hips.

* * *

Paige and Leo sat in a trendy coffee shop, watching people run for cover from the rain. Paige took another sip from her mug and a bite from her second muffin, she always got the munchies when she was excited, and she had a good reason to be excited. 

'So, this is where my first charge works huh?' Paige looked around.

'Yeah, but don't think you'll be getting free stuff here now!' Leo smirked.

'Well, what can you tell me about her?'

'Not much, all you need to know is that her name is Pamela, she's a witch, and she's a teenager. The rest you need to find out by getting to know her,'

Paige nodded and took another bite from her muffin, there were people sitting in this café, typing on their laptops, on the coffee shop's computers, the place seemed very modern. Who ever her charge was, she worked in style.

* * *

_I live in a dump_ Pamela thought to herself as she fiddled with the temperamental lock on the door, she sighed and just unlocked it with her powers. 

Pamela had lived on her own since she had turned sixteen, since she could legally be her own guardian, she given up on being shuffled from foster home to foster home, and decided to make it on her own.

Her small, three-roomed apartment has decorated quite nicely, considering the area that she lived in. She could only live like this because of her benefits from the State, and her own salary from the coffee shop, she had only bought the essentials for her place, a bed, a TV, a microwave, but after she realised she could live a bit better, she splurged and the apartment was looking good, although Pamela still called it a dump.

She walked to her bed that was next to the wall of the living room; she threw down her school stuff and quickly started to get changed. Everything that she did, it was all for survival, she was trying to buckle down in school so she could get a scholarship and go to college to get her qualifications. After that, she didn't know what she would do, but she would at least have the means to make something of her life………

'Oh look, there she is,' Leo pointed a girl outside who was currently running towards the café. The entrance opened, temporarily letting in the cold and wet from the outside, but that soon stopped as the girl lowered the hood of her coat and made her way to behind the counter, where she was met by her boss.

* * *

'Pamela, you're late again.' The man said with his arms folded 

'I know, I'm really sorry, I just got held up at school,' Pamela put her apron on.

The man sighed, 'I've tried hard to be understanding of your situation, but I'm afraid I can't tolerate it anymore,'

Pamela looked up, she couldn't lose her job, 'No! Please sir! Give me one last chance!' she pleaded.

'I'm sorry Pamela, but I…'

'Hi, are you the manager?'

The two turned round to see a woman standing at the counter, she looked like she was in her late twenties and had dark brown hair, and a man with blonde hair accompanied her.

'Yes,' the manager answered, 'How can I help you?'

'I would just like to say that I was in here yesterday and this young lady was polite, considerate and was always smiling,' the woman looked at Pamela, 'Here's an extra something to the tip I gave you yesterday,' she handed Pamela a twenty dollar bill, 'I'll be sure to tell my friends about your friendly staff!' she said to the manager before going back to her table.

Pamela's boss stood there silently, then groaned, 'I don't know why I'm doing this, but I'm giving you ONE more chance!' he held up his finger to get his point across, 'If you're late again…'

'I won't be,' Pamela beamed, before taking a pad and paper and leaving the counter to take orders. Her first stop was to her mystery woman's table; she stopped at the side and the woman smiled at her.

'Did your boss let you off the hook?' She asked.

'Yeah, thanks to you… and I'm just wondering…'

'I wasn't here yesterday,' she replied, smiling, 'I'm Paige by the way,'

'Hi, I'm Pam,' she put out her hand to greet Paige, but soon as Paige's hand met hers, she was hit by a premonition.

_Night. Big house. Four women. Paige. Demon._

Pamela came out of the premonition and dropped her pad and paper,

'Are you okay?' Paige asked, full of concern.

'Uh… Yeah, I'm fine,' Pamela smiled weakly.

'Okay, I think we'll get going now,' Paige delved into her purse, 'Ugh! I don't have anything, my card will have to do,' she pulled out her credit card and handed it to Pamela.

'Sure, I'll be right back,' Pamela walked back to the counter.

'I don't see why we couldn't just tell her who we are,' Paige said to Leo.

'Whitelighters are supposed to guide from afar, she'll find us in her own time…

Pamela quickly memorised the name on the card and put it though the swipe. She would have to find out where 'Paige Matthews' lived before nightfall or she wouldn't be able to help.

* * *

BANG!!!!!!!!! 

Pamela waved her arms to get rid of some of the smoke that was rising from the old pot. After studying a lot on magic, Pamela had eventually managed to teach herself the craft. She was quite good too, and extremely gifted in the powers department, not to mention her spells and potions packed quite a punch too.

She quickly grabbed an old jar and filled it with the potion, making sure to lock up the door before she left. Her hair fell down over her left eye and she blew it out the way, on top of school, a job, powers, she had to save people as well!

* * *

'Okay, are you sure this demon is going to attack?' Piper asked Emma again, they were all waiting in the attic for a demon to show up. Emma had received a vision about a demon surprising them that night, Piper had wanted to be out when it happened so she wouldn't have to fight, but she had been overruled. 

'Yes, of course I'm sure! Will you stop interrupting the conversation? Continue,' Emma turned back to Paige who was telling her about her charge.

'Anyway, she's a teenage witch who's had her powers all her life! And I helped her saving her job!'

'You didn't tell her who you were?' Emma's eyes widened.

'No. Leo told me to keep my distance until she figured it out for herself,'

'Hi…' Prue said weakly as she walked into the attic.

'You feeling okay?' Paige asked, she had formed a bond with her big sister now and was concerned.

'Yeah, I guess, it's just a weird feeling I'm having, it's like I'm as light as a cloud,' Prue replied

'Wow, that's strange,' Emma chipped in.

'Tell me about it,'

'Maybe Leo should check you out, it could be a demon who-,'

'LOOK OUT!' a voice screamed.

The girls spun round to see the demon from Emma's vision, ready to attack them. The girl threw a jar at the demon and it shattered, causing the contained potion to seep out the kill the demon in a fiery way.

'Who the HELL are you?!' Piper exclaimed.

'Someone who just saved your lives, that's all you need to know,' the girl walked away.

'Pamela! Wait!' Paige stopped the girl from leaving the attic, 'We don't need to know, we already know. We're witches,' Paige explained.

Pamela's eyes widened, 'What?' she looked at the four women.

'Come and meet everyone,' Paige pulled her over to her sisters and friend.

'This is Piper,' the two witches shook hands.

'This is Emma,' the Magic School teacher and girl greeted each other.

'And this is Prue,' Pamela took the woman's hand, but was not expecting such a powerful premonition.

_Woman. Prue. Hospital. Baby. _

_Jump Forward_

_Baby. Social Services. Abandoned._

The vision ended the Pamela let go of Prue's hand, gasping for breath, and she had every reason to be. In these few seconds, she had saw things that made her entire life fit together, feel complete! But all she could do was look up at the woman with burning hate in her eyes before she ran out the house.

'What happened?' Piper thought out loud, not noticing Emma crouching over in exhaustion.

'She had a premonition,' Emma replied simply.

'What? How do you know?'

'Because I saw what she saw,' Emma turned to Prue, 'You've got some explaining to do,'

* * *

The four witches now sat in the living room, where all of them were now staring at Prue. 

'I still don't know what this is all about!' Prue protested.

'You will in a minute. Give me your hands,' Emma put out her hands, offering.

Prue did as she was told and was hit by the same premonition by Pamela and Emma had saw. She clutched her chest and began to cry.

'Oh God…' Prue whispered, Piper was immediately at her side, rubbing her back and holding her hand.

'It must have been around sixteen years ago,' Prue began, 'Andy and I had went to college and everything was great, until…'

'Until?' Paige questioned.

She sighed, 'I found out I was pregnant, I couldn't tell Grams because she would freak, and I didn't have the heart to get a termination, so… once the baby was born, we gave her up for adoption,'

'So, that girl, my charge, is really…'

'Your niece,' Prue finished.

Emma's eyes widened, 'Prue! Look at your hand!' she pointed frantically.

Prue brought up her arm, her hand was fading away!

Prue looked at her hand with sad eyes, 'I guess my time is up,'

* * *

Paige orbed into the place where she had sensed Pamlea, it was a small apartment and she found Pamela sitting an old sofa, watching TV while crouched over a table, probably doing homework. 

Pamela looked up and sighed, 'I don't have anything to say to you, _Aunt_ Paige,' she snapped a book shut and walked into the kitchen.

'Well, I have something to say to you, so just hear me out,' Pamela stopped clattering with pots and turned round.

'Look, you hate your mother are abandoning you. You've had to grow up with powers that you didn't understand and it probably didn't get you that you that many friends along the way. Not to mention probably being shuffled to different homes all the time!'

Pamela rolled her eyes, 'Wow, you've just summed up my sad little life in just a couple of sentences!' she wore a sarcastic smile.

'I'm not done yet.' Paige took a deep breath, 'Listen, Prue died four years ago, but somehow she was brought back, and we just found out what that reason was,'

Pamela sighed, 'And what was that?'

'To find you,' Paige answered simply.

'What?'

'Some higher power gave her a limited second life, it expired when we found you, and she's only going to be alive for another couple of minutes or so,' Pamela didn't respond, Paige continued, 'Do really want your Mom to die thinking that her own daughter hates her?' there was more silence, Paige held out her hand, 'Come with me,'………

Piper was silently crying, ever since Leo had came back with the news from the Elders, she had tried to get used to the fact that she was going to lose her big sister for a second time. Emma had decided not to console her and to just go to her room, there was so much emotions flying around right now, she just couldn't take it.

'Piper…' Prue walked through a table to reach her sister; her entire body was now ghostly.

'Please don't do that, it's a little unnerving,' Piper replied, avoiding eye contact.

'Piper, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about this sooner,' Prue bowed her head, 'I didn't know what I had been given a second chance for, all I knew is that it would be over once I found out,'

There was a dazzle of orbs in the attic and Paige appeared, with Pamela.

'Piper, let's go,' Paige said, taking her grieving big sister by the hand and leading her out.

Pamela and Prue stood and floated respectively, both not knowing what to say.

Prue spoke, 'I never gave you up because I wanted to, and you have to know that,'

'Can I speak for a minute?'

Prue was surprised, but she nodded, 'I hate the fact that you abandoned me, I hate the fact that I had to grow up alone, and I hate the fact that this is the way that I'm meeting you. But despite all that, I don't hate you, I just… hate that you weren't there for me…' Pamela trailed off.

Prue smiled gently, 'Thank you, spoken like a true Halliwell by the way,' she winked.

'So… will I never see you again?' Pamela managed to choke out.

'Yeah, just summon me if you need me,' Prue replied softly. She looked up at the ceiling, 'It's time,'

She closed her eyes and let out a breath, and with that, Prue Halliwell had moved on

* * *

Chapter 23 'There's a Woogy In Your Step' will be up soon!

Sorry it took to long to update, but I was working on the thing below! That's right ladies and gentlemen! This is the 'United As Three' preview!!!!!

* * *

_The attic door burst open as Piper hurried to the Book, she was helping an injured Pamela, who was being supported by Piper and limping badly._

'_Paige! Move it!' Piper screamed at the top of lungs, her sister and husband immediately appeared in a flash of orbs after hearing Pipers tone. Paige took one look at Pamela and knew what was going on, her big sister could only nod._

_Piper ordered, 'Paige, get the potions!' Paige nodded and ran across the room, only to be stopped by him flaming in front of her._

'_I was expecting a bit more of a fight!' he smirked._

'_And you're going to get one!' Piper growled, putting up her hands and blowing him up, scattering his body into swirling particles, allowing Paige to get the potions that where lying on the table._

'_Pam, c'mon honey, we need you, it's time,' Piper rambled into her niece's ear, shaking her back into consciousness. He reformed and advanced on Piper._

'_That was a BIG mistake!' he growled, conjuring a fireball._

'_Pam…' Piper squeaked worryingly. Her niece reacted just in time and sent a frost cloud at the enemy, sending him back and freezing him slightly. But it didn't do much good; he shook off the ice and came at them again, only to be stopped by Paige throwing potions at his back. He turned round and snarled, conjuring another fireball and throwing it at Paige………_

Phoebe shot up in her bed, sweating and clutching her chest; she could hear the baby crying in the next room. The bed moved on the other side and Brennan got up.

'Don't worry, I'll get him,' he said reassuringly as he opened the door. Phoebe merely nodded as she went over her dream, it had been so real! Brennan coming back with Connor in his arms interrupted her thoughts. Connor had stopped crying as soon as Brennan had come in.

'I think he just wants some attention,' Brennan smiled.

'Hmm… at least he looks in the right places for it,' Phoebe smirked as she turned on the bedside lamp.

'Hey, that was before I met you,' Brennan smirked back, handing the baby to it's mother. Phoebe smiled at the gurgling little bundle in her arms. _Conner Halliwell Mulwray _she thought of her child's name in her head. He had been named Conner after Brennan's father his other names had come from his Mom and Dad. Phoebe's thoughts wondered back to her dream as she watched a sleeping Connor find comfort in her arms. She was convinced it was a premonition, and the only way to prevent it from happening, was to return home.

* * *

Did that wet your appetite? I bet it did! I've decided to make 'The Lone Charmed One' just 40 chapters, so I hope you keep enjoying it lol!


	23. There's A Woogy In Your Step

Princess Pinky – Thanks! I'm really enjoying 'The Children Of Light' you've got some pretty good twists yourself lol! I'm glad you liked the preview and titles! Although I think you're probably queen of chapter titles lol!

wyatt333 – I can take Prue away, and I did! (does evil laugh) lol, don't worry! Just because Prue's gone. It doesn't mean they'll never see her again! And the Connor part was part of the 'United As Three' preview! I hope you're excited as I am!

andy20 – Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying it! I think the preview was awesome too lol!

Piperfairy63 – Is this update quick enough for you? lol! I knew you'd like it!

CuteLittleBritt – Thanks! I'm going to try and make her a really deep character! Aidan as well lol!

Thanks you guys! You're all so great! Here's the next chapter!

**There's a Woogy In Your Step**

A week had passed since Prue had faded away, and the Halliwell Manor was still tense. Emma had mostly been keeping away from everyone, as the all the negative emotions were too much for her, not to mention she was feeling everyone's repressed feelings, which were even worse. Paige was trying to stay strong for the family by watching over Pamela and making sure she was safe. Although Paige's heart almost broke in two when Pamela had asked her about her father with a hopeful glint in her eyes, Paige had felt horrible when she told her told Andy wasn't alive anymore.

'Oh well, at least the two of them won't be lonely,' was her response, which had made her feel even worse. Piper had cut herself off from everyone, she had lost her big sister twice now and there was no getting her back. It was hard to look at Pamela as she resembled Prue so much and although Piper didn't mean to be, she ended up being pretty dismissive of her new niece.

Paige and Aidan were walking along a desolate street; it was quite late, even for people in San Francisco so there was no one around to see the two holding hands and Paige leaning on his arm.

'What's it been like at the house?' Aidan asked quietly, knowing that Paige just wanted to talk in whispers right now,

'It's been… hard. Piper finds it so hard to accept Pamela, I can understand that it's just that… she's our niece, we have to protect her,' Aidan just nodded, 'And then there's Emma, who spends more time at Magic School than at home right now. Her powers are just bombarding her with everyone's emotions which believe me, are not very nice,'

'Is it hard to live there right now?' Aidan asked cautiously.

'Ugh… it's almost unbearable! But when you're here, it's a little easier,' The couple stopped walking and faced each other, 'These past nine months have been so crazy, but the past six months… well, you've made them a lot better,' Paige suddenly hugged her boyfriend tightly, 'Thank you so much for coming into my life Aidan,' she was on the verge of tears now.

Aidan wrapped her into a big bear hug, stroking her hair and kissing the top of her head as she cried into his chest. She looked up at him, her eyes red from crying, and kissed him. Aidan began to return the kiss, but he didn't make anymore tense, Paige was fragile right now, and she needed to be treated that way, but he would need to ask her the question tonight, he was almost out of time.

The two of them began walking again, 'So, enough of this bad stuff, tell me something good!' Paige smiled

'Um… Well, this could be good if you accept, if you don't it could be really awkward,' Aidan replied.

'What?'

He took a deep breath, 'My friend who works in real estate told me about an apartment that just became available, 2 bedrooms, nice location, the rent is fair and I… want you to move in to it with me,'

Paige stopped abruptly and widened her eyes, 'What?!'

'I don't need an answer straight away, but I do need one soon,' he tried to take the pressure off quickly.

'I… Uh…' Paige's stuttering was cut off by a screeching sound coming from down the street.

'What the hell is that?!' Aidan exclaimed

Paige had heard the noise somewhere before, but she couldn't remember where. It suddenly hit her.

She gasped, 'Gargoyles! C'mon!' Paige began to run down the street, dragging Aidan by the hand. The only other time she had heard that sound was when she first became a witch, the gargoyles had been trying to keep The Source away from her, and this noise could only mean that a great evil had come up on the surface.

Paige had been right, she gasped and hid behind a bench when she saw the Evil Charmed Ones, all three of them!

'I'll be right back,' Paige orbed out, leaving Aidan to observe. He watched as the gargoyles that were sitting it the top of the church, unleashing their high-pitched scream to ward off the Evil Charmed Ones. They seemed to be effected by the gargoyles a lot, as Paige and Phoebe were holding her hands over their ears, to try and drown it out. Piper however, went on the offensive and blew up one of the stone beasts with a simple gesture.

Paige reappeared in a flurry of orbs; Pamela and Emma were accompanying her.

'Where's Piper?' Aidan.

'We don't have time for that story!' Paige hissed as she and the others crouched down.

'Okay here's the plan, I'll take Piper. Emma, you take Phoebe, and Pamela will take me,' anyone got a problem with that plan?'

'So those are the counterparts…' Pamela breathed, she had been brought up to speed with her family's current situation. Family. Pam went over that word in her head again, she was still trying to get used to the fact that she had one, she had been learning more about being a witch over the past two weeks and learning all the rules. She had been surprised when Paige had told her about all the Wiccan rules, and that there were consequences to selfish actions.

'Pam? You okay?' Paige looked at her niece with concern and put a hand on her shoulder.

'Yeah, I'm fine, let's go!' she said enthusiastically before running towards the enemy with the others.

'Hey!' Paige shouted, attracting their attention.

The counterparts noticed them and Paige immediately dark orbed out, causing confusion.

'We don't need our baby sister to take care of you,' Phoebe growled.

'Hmm… We'll see about that,' Paige replied before running forward and throwing Phoebe back with a wave of her arm.

* * *

Piper sat in the kitchen with her cold hands around a warm mug of tea, she had been thinking of all of her sisters recently and smiled at the memory of Phoebe's powers advancing.

_Piper was chopping up some carrots and putting them into the pot, as her husband came from behind and snaked his arms around her waist, kissing her neck in the process._

'_What do you say to orb away to Paris for the weekend?' he whispered huskily in her ear._

'_Mmm… Don't tempt me,' she put the rest of the carrots in the pot._

'_Okay, how about we go upstairs and we-.'_

'_Piper! Leo!' Paige's voice echoed from upstairs, it sounded urgent._

_The couple walked into the dining room just in time to see Paige jump down the last couple of steps,_

'_Phoebe's went mental! Literally!' she announced before joining her brother in law and big sister. There was a flash from half way down the stairs and a small globe of light flew and hit against the wall. Phoebe appeared at the bottom of the steps, with a light glowing in front of her forehead._

'_Okay, what the hell is going on?!' the light enlarged and flew from Phoebe's head, causing her to stumble slightly from the force. Everyone ducked out of the way as the light went over them, hitting the window and smashing it._

'_I can't stop it!' another light appeared and was fired, Paige's fright caused her to unintentionally orb out, while Piper phased to avoid it, leaving Leo to take the blast and knocking him out. Piper was at his side, checking on him, she breathed a sigh of relief when she realised he had only been knocked out._

'_Alright, that does it! Light thingy!' Paige put out her hand, surrounding the next light in a swathe of orbs; she turned it round to hit Phoebe, knocking her out._

_Piper walked to her baby sister and raised her eyebrow, 'Light thingy?'_

'_Well it worked, didn't it?' Paige snapped._

Piper smiled again, but it disappeared when she heard a creak coming the basement, 'Prue?' she called out hopefully as she opened the door of the basement. She cautiously walked down the wooden stairs, when reaching the bottom; she pulled on the cord that turned the light on and gasped when she saw her baby sister's counterpart.

'Surprised to see me?' she smirked, Piper put up her hands and blew up the witch, but she just reformed in a flurry of black orbs, 'It's gonna take more than that to stop me,' Paige threw out her arm and sent Piper flying into a dresser.

Piper growled and stood up, this was not what she needed right now, she stomped her foot, and a yellow glow ran from it and into the ground sending a fissure towards Paige, who smirked before dark orbing out.

Piper stared at the whole in the ground with a confused look, why had she not put up much of a fight? And it was like she had wanted her to use her geokinesis, then she realised, earthquakes freed the…

* * *

Paige dark orbed back in to the fight, her oldest sister seemed to be holding her own against the whitelighter half-breed and the brat, her other sister was having trouble though, mainly due to the elementals interference.

'It's done! Let's get out of here!' Paige shouted, her sisters heard her and they huddled around, orbing out to their underworld hideout.

Paige put her hands on her hips, 'Well that is strange, did anyone get the feeling that they weren't even trying?'

'Hmm… I know what you mean,' Emma walked over to her, 'Why would they try to get into a church anyway? They should know that the gargoyles would have at attracted our attention.

'Maybe they did know?' Aidan chipped in.

'What?'

'Maybe this was a set up,'

Emma looked at Pamela, who was looking at the remains of the blown up gargoyle, 'Um… I'll go talk to her,' she walked off.

'So…' Aidan began.

'I'm definitely considering it,' Paige cut him off, knowing what he was going to say, 'But right now we have other problems,'

Aidan merely nodded as he followed her over to Pamela.

'Can we bring the little guy back?' Pamela asked, touching the pieces of stone.

'Uh… We could try!' Emma said cheerfully.

'Hmm… let's see, you got a spell?' Aidan knelt down.

Paige looked upwards, she was trying to think of one, 'Oh! I got one!

Let the object of objection return

So that its existence may be reaffirmed,'

The pieces floated up into the air and came together, forming a gargoyle; it floated up to its original place and returned to its vigilant post.

'Piece a cake!' Paige said triumphantly.

* * *

Paige sat in her office, scribbling her signature on some papers. The weather had changed drastically from yesterdays drizzle and it was scorching hot! Paige had put her fan on in her office. There was a knock at her open door, she looked up to see a gaunt man with a grin on his face, and Paige already didn't like him.

'Are you Paige Matthews?' the man said, narrowing his eyes and pointing at her.

'Who are you?'

'Oh! Sorry! Herb Landry, reporter at the Bay Mirror, so, are you Paige Matthews?'

'Yes, I can I help… you?' Paige made a face as the man looking at the stuff on her desk.

'Oh, I think so, you see, I'm working on a story,'

'About social services?'

'No, on the supernatural,'

Paige screamed in her head, but kept a neutral expression, 'Why would you come to me?'

'Oh I don't know, maybe it's because I saw you use magic while you were fighting a woman who looked identical to you last night, not to mention I saw you bring a stone gargoyle of life,'

Paige gave a stony glare, 'I don't know what you're talking about,'

'Oh really?' the man smirked, he put his hand next to the vase on Paige's desk, the one that had been her Moms, and he slid it off the desk, causing it to smash and making Paige grit her teeth.

'Wow, I admire your restraint!' he said with a grin. Paige just let out a growl from her throat, 'Oh well, I guess I'll go see what your niece has to stay,' Paige's eyes widened, 'I did my homework,' he responded, before walking off.

After she was sure he had disappeared into the elevator, Paige slammed her door shut and began shouting for Aidan. He appeared in a tower of water and looked at Paige with a surprised look.

'What's wrong?'

'A journalist saw our fight with the counterparts last night!' she replied.

'What?!' Aidan wore an urgent look.

'Yeah, now he's away to speak to Pam…' Paige ran a hand through her long brown hair as tears welled up in her eyes.

Aidan moved closer and rubbed her arm gently, 'You okay?'

Paige sighed and blew a strand of hair from her face, 'No. No, I'm not alright! Piper had wrapped herself in a little cocoon and has been acting even weirder since last night, Emma is distancing herself from everyone because she can't handle everyone's emotions, Pam lives way across town, vulnerable to demon attacks, so I need to watch over her constantly, and to top everything off, some weasel of a journalist is trying to expose us! I'm last witch standing right now Aidan!' she broke down as Aidan pulled her into a tight hug, just as he had done the night before.

'I can't take it anymore! I just can't take it anymore!' Paige sobbed into his chest.

Aidan pushed her away slightly so he could look into her eyes, 'Paige, you are the strongest person I ever met, and believe me, I've met a lot of strong people!' Paige chuckled through her tears, 'If anyone can get through this, it's you. And if you think you're going to do this alone, think again, I'm going to be here with you every step of the way. I'd do anything for you Paige,' he whispered as he brought his hand to her cheek and kissed her tenderly, just making their lips clumsily bump off each other.

Paige pulled away; her face had an expression of determination on it.

'We need to go get Pam…'

* * *

Piper appeared in an underworld cavern, she had made her entrance in a swirling shadow. She turned to see all three Evil Charmed Ones looking at her.

'Thank you for tricking the witch into freeing me,' she said, 'She's very powerful,'

'Your welcome,' Paige said tonelessly, 'But now we need you to do something for us,'

'Why should I help?' Piper said, 'I'm free now, I don't need you,'

'That's true,' Evil Piper began, 'But even though we're evil, we still have the power to put you back in the ground, so helping us is in your best interest,'

'What's it gonna be?' Phoebe raised one of her eyebrows.

Piper sighed and folded her arms, 'What do you want me to do?'

* * *

'No.'

'What?!'

'I said no.'

Paige and Aidan were currently fighting with Pamela, who usually snuck out of school at lunchtime. They had asked her to come with them because of the journalist, but she was refusing.

'But Pam, this guy might do anything to break this story! You need protected!' Paige argued.

'He's a mortal! I'm a powerful witch! I think the scales are tipped in my favour!' she replied sarcastically, she sighed and moved a strand of hair from her face with her finger, 'Look, you guys, l have lived without a family ever since I was born, I've been alone and I've got used to it, I just… need some time to adjust to this. And even though I'm willing to help with the big stuff, but hiding from a journalist is something I can do alone, so… just give me some space,' with that, she walked off.

Paige was about to go after her, when Aidan put a hand on her shoulder, 'You can't force her, she'll just pull away from you more,' he said.

Paige sighed and turned to him, 'Fine, let's go and warn Piper,' she walked into an alley and orbed out, with Aidan following by splashing.

* * *

Piper was in the kitchen, going over the plan again, she couldn't take over the house yet, not until she had completed the counterpart's plan, she sat in the counter filing her nails with a file that she had conjured.

'Piper! You there?' Paige's voice rang out.

Piper smirked. It was time, 'In here!' she dematerialised the file and jumped off the counter.

Paige and Aidan walked into the kitchen, 'We have trouble,' Paige announced.

'Tell me at Magic School,' Piper replied.

'What?'

'I need to go pick up the boys,' she answered.

'Boys? Isn't Chris here?' Paige asked with a bemused expression.

Piper's eyes widened, 'Um… Uh… No, I had some errands to run and couldn't take him,' she stuttered out, she had almost been caught.

'Oh, okay, let's go,' Paige grabbed her sister and enveloped her in orbs.

* * *

The three of them appeared in the Great Hall in water and orbs, as soon as they landed, Piper walked away from Paige and Aidan and began to look around, as if she had never seen the place before.

'Piper?' Paige asked cautiously.

'Your side did a good job of this place,' Piper turned round, revealing her black eyes, 'But I'm afraid it's MINE!' a shadow began creeping from Pipers feet, spreading and devouring everything it touched.

'Paige, orb out,' Aidan said calmly.

'But what about-,'

'GO!' he shouted, before throwing an ice blast at the shadow, but having no effect.

'I'm not leaving you!' Paige protested.

Aidan fired another ice blast then turned around and made a gesture at Paige, splashing her out.

* * *

Paige reappeared in the Manor, she heard crying from upstairs and assuming that Chris had been here all along. She walked upstairs to find Chris sitting on his bedroom floor, holding his foot.

'Auntie Paige! I stood on one of my toys!' he wailed.

Paige went over to him and picked him up, 'Shh… it's okay, you're safe,' she rubbed his foot gently, trying to ease the pain, 'Does that feel better?'

Chris sniffed and nodded, 'Where's Mommy?'

'Uh… she went to go get your big brother,' Paige said, it was sort of true, even though Piper had never collected Wyatt. She walked up to the attic, with Chris in her arms and picked up the book, putting it under her free arm, the Manor was no longer safe. She began to think of where she could go, she finally decided on Aidan's apartment and orbed out.

* * *

Chris was sitting on the sofa in Aidan's apartment, sucking on a Popsicle that Paige had found in the refrigerator, he was watching the 'after school' cartoons while his aunt flipped the pages of the Book of Shadows frantically.

'C'mon! There has to be something in here! Dammit!' Paige slammed the book shut and sighed heavily, Chris turned round, shocked at his aunt's temper.

'Don't tell you Mom I said the 'd' word, okay?' Paige winked; Chris nodded and turned back to the TV. Paige folded her arms and stared at the book, who could she go to? Emma, Leo, Wyatt, Piper and Aidan were all at the school, so they couldn't help her, and Pam was at her job and Paige couldn't exactly walk into a coffee shop with a kid in one arm and a very strange book in the other.

She kept staring at the cover, at the triquetra, and then it hit her! She had promised to this only in an emergency, and this situation qualified! She began flipping the pages again until she found what she was looking for. She slapped the page, 'Gotcha!'

'Powers of the sisters rise,

Course unseen across the skies,

Come to us who call you near

Come to us and settle here!'

Paige looked up hopefully, but her smile faded when nothing happened. Suddenly, a breeze blew through the room and white lights appeared in front of her, swirling around on the spot, and when they disappeared, they revealed a very confused Phoebe Halliwell standing in their place.

* * *

OMG! Phoebe's back! Wait, I wrote this, why am I surprised lol! And we haven't seen the last of Herb Landry!

Chapter 24 'Back To School' will be up soon!

PS: I'm writing the first chapter in a Mutant X Fiction called 'Far From Over' I'll inform you when it's up so that you can review it lol!


	24. Back To School

piperfairy63 – When Piper used her powers in the basement, she freed the shadow of the Nexus by accident, aka the Woogyman. It possessed her and tricked Paige so that it could take over Magic School. And since Phoebe was about a month pregnant when we switched back to Piper and Paige, she's around four months now, so they will find out!

wyatt333 – This is the last P & P chapter for a while! I know, I don't like them being depressed either! It's sad to write! But it's necessary lol!

Princess Pinky – LOL! I hope this answers some of your questions! And yeah! I though it was a very Paige thing to say! Thanks for calling me awesome, despite what anyone says, flattery does get you somewhere lol!

charmed-greek – Biatch?! Who you calling a biatch? Biatch! LOL! I'm glad I got such a passionate response! Keep reviewing!

andy20 – lol! Yeah, feel free to be surprised! This chapter will answer your questions!

CuteLittleBritt – Aidan's going to be sticking around for a while lol! And Paige really did need help, didn't she? Well, she certainly gets it! Read this chapter to find out how! 

**Back To School**

'Paige?!' Phoebe exclaimed, 'How did I…'

'I summoned you!' Paige beamed and ran across to her big sister, 'I've missed you so much!' she went over to hug her, put found it because of her sisters enlarged stomach, Paige's eyes widened.

'You're…,'

'Uh huh, about three and a half months now,' Phoebe patted her stomach, 'Didn't the fact that I'm wearing a poncho give it away?' she smirked. Paige looked at her sister, she was showing a little, but she had covered it well with her clothes.

'I can't believe this!' Paige stared at Phoebe's stomach.

'Uh… Paige? My face is up here,' Phoebe said.

'Sorry, I just…' her eyes widened, 'Does that mean you have a guy in your life?' Paige wiggled her eyebrows.

'Okay, if you just summoned me for gossip, then reverse your spell because you took me from a very important place,' Phoebe artfully dodged the question.

Paige shook her head, bringing herself back to reality, 'Right! But can you look after Chris? I need to go get someone,' Phoebe sighed and gave her a look, 'I'll explain everything when I get back, please?' Paige used her best pleading look, her sister was about to answer when she cut her off, 'Great! Be back in a few!' she orbed out.

Phoebe put her head through her hair, but was interrupted from her thoughts by Chris running at her.

'Aunt Pheeb! Aunt Pheeb!' Chris still couldn't say her name properly, she smiled and looked down at her nephew, she dropped down to his height, which was hard considering her stomach

'Hey! Little man!' she pulled him into a hug, then brought him back so she could face him, 'Listen sweetie, I want you to tell no one about the man that's going to be here in a minute, okay?' she lightly tapped his nose, Chris nodded as Phoebe stood up, 'Andy! Andy!' Phoebe shouted at the ceiling. There was a cluster of orbs forming in front of her as her whitelighter, Andy Trudeau.

'Thank God! Phoebe, everyone's worried sick about you! I had to practically throw Brennan off to stop him from coming with me,'

'It's okay, I'm alright,' Phoebe said with a smile, 'But I need to stay here for a while, Paige needs my help with something, and she wouldn't have called if it wasn't important,'

'Phoebe, she summoned you in the middle of a mission! We could have lost that mutant!'

'Oh please, until Adam fixes my psi blast power, I'm useless on the frontline, not to mention I'm not as fast as I used to be!'

'That's not true! You have you're new telempathy power!' Andy protested

'Key word there. New. I still can't control it!' she retorted

'You can learn,'

'Oh yeah? You weren't so supportive when I psychically strangled you by accident, were you?' Phoebe put her hands on her hips, then sighed, 'Why am I fighting about my powers with you? Just orb your butt back to Sanctuary and tell the guys that I'm alright and I'll be back soon!' she saw orbs appearing over Andy's shoulder, 'Hurry! Get out of here!' Andy quickly orbed away just as Paige appeared with a teenage girl.

'Hey! Pam, Phoebe. Phoebe, Pam,' Paige turned to her big sister, 'You've got a whole lot of catching up to do,'

* * *

Phoebe took a deep breath, after hearing about everything that had happened over the past nine months, she needed time to process the information. She thought about her sister's current situation, not to mention her long lost niece was sitting across from her!

'So, you're saying this shadow used Piper to get a lift to Magic School?' Phoebe confirmed.

'Yeah, then it began to spread and… consume Aidan…' Paige looked down, Phoebe took her hand, and she didn't need her empathic powers to know that Paige loved this guy.

_I can't believe things have turned out like this _Phoebe thought to herself, then she remembered, she had to take a serum that Adam had given her. It turned out that her improved psi blast had been caused by the pregnancy, but not the baby, and the leader of Mutant X, Adam Kane, had returned after hearing the phenomenon of a pregnant witch. He had told her that her body would change a lot during her pregnancy and her powers may experience temporary bursts of strength until the baby was born, he had given her a serum to control the process but it meant she couldn't use the power in question for a while, which meant that she couldn't fire any mental blasts until tomorrow.

But that didn't mean that her powers hadn't advanced along with the others, Phoebe had received the rare gift of telempathy, which gave her the ability to alter people's emotions.

'Okay, here's what we're gonna do, we're gonna make a ton of vanquishing potions, now that Magic School is evil, demons are probably crawling about the place. Next, we have to figure out who we need to find and get back on our side, I think Piper is the most obvious choice seeing as she's the most powerful,' Phoebe looked at her sister and niece, who both looked glad that someone was taking charge.

* * *

Phoebe and Pamela sat the table in Aidan's apartment, writing various spells for various uses, while Paige worked with potions in the kitchen, causing the odd explosion now and again.

Pamela had been silent for most of this activity, until Phoebe opened the lines of communication.

'You're unsure about having a family, aren't you?' Phoebe asked her, Pamela widened her eyes, Phoebe laughed, 'I know how you feel, trust me,'

Pamela came closer so that Paige wouldn't hear them, 'Look, I've been alone all my life, it's hard to just accept the fact that I'm not alone in the world,'

'I know sweetie, I really, really do, but trust me, they just want to get to know you, they're not asking that you forget everything in your life just so you can battle demons!' Phoebe began writing on the pad again, 'And I'm willing to bet that you want to get to know them as much as they want to get to know you,' she smiled.

Pamela gave her a friendly glare, 'You ever get tired of going through peoples hearts and minds?' she smirked.

'Yeah, but only a little!' Phoebe laughed, along with her niece.

There was a bang from the kitchen and Paige emerged with a face full of soot, and her hair looked as if she had been in the wind too long!

'Potions done!' she beamed; her white teeth glowed against the black of her soot-covered face.

'Paige, honey?' Phoebe said kindly

'Yeah?'

'You… might want to take a brush to your hair before we go!' Pamela giggled while Phoebe suppressed a laugh.

'Or a pair of hedge trimmers!' Pamela said, bursting out laughing with her pregnant aunt, who was in stitches.

* * *

'Paige! Hurry up!' Phoebe shouted, Paige had been in the bathroom for ten minutes.

'No! I'm not coming out!' a muffled voice came from the other side of the door.

'C'mon Aunt Paige! It can't be that bad!' Pamela said through the door, the use of the word 'aunt' had surprised Phoebe, but made her smile.

'The potion had a side effect on my hair!' Paige shouted again.

'Just come out!' Phoebe lost it with her baby sister, Paige opened the door slowly that the explosion from the potion had turned her hair blonde!

'Oh God, I hope your IQ hasn't dropped,' Pamela put her hand to her mouth,

'Well, if this is like the time a potion turned your hair red, then you're gonna be like this for a while,' Phoebe smiled nervously.

'Ugh, we'll sort it later! And you, missy,' Paige waggled her finger at Pamela, 'The first blonde joke to come out of you will be your last!' she said threateningly, but Pam knew it was a joke.

'Well, we got the potions and the spells,' Pamela said, then looked at Paige, 'Although, you should probably stick to throwing potions, can blondes even read?' she joked.

Paige glared at her, 'You know, maybe I'll just throw a potion at you! What do you think about that?' Paige smirked and put her hands on her hips.

'Okay, you two, enough,' Phoebe came between the two, 'I believe how corny this is going to sound, but… let's go save the school!' Phoebe took hold of her sister's hand and Paige put out her other one for Pamela.

'C'mon, don't tell me you won't touch a blonde!' Paige smirked, Pamela laughed and cautiously took Paige's hand, allowing them to orb out for Magic School.

* * *

Paige and Phoebe looked around the new darkness of theGreat Hall in disgust; the sight however, mesmerized Pamela!

'Oh my God! Are all of these books on magic?!' Pamela went to run forward to the bookcase, but Paige and Phoebe quickly grabbed her arms, pulling her back.

'Stop! Look!' Paige went over to a small table and picked up a book, she threw it into the blank space of floor and there was an explosion, which caused the girls to step back a bit.

'A trap?' Pamela looked at her aunts.

You'd be dead right now if you had taken another step,' Paige replied

Phoebe shook her head worryingly, 'This is scary, they knew that Pamela's curiosity would lead her to the bookcase, they knew exactly where to lay a trap,'

Paige rested her hand on Pamela's shoulder comfortingly, 'Just stay with us, and walk slowly,' Pamela merely nodded, still reeling from her near death experience.

They walked carefully from then on, Pamela would look all around her frantically to make sure that nothing was coming from the ceiling, walls, or floor. They were about to turn a corner when Phoebe stopped them.

'Students are patrolling here!' she hissed, Paige and Pamela looked around to see students walking as if they were in the army.

'What are we gonna do? We can't harm them!' Paige whispered.

Phoebe mulled the situation over, and then smiled, 'I got it!' she stepped out into the middle of the corridor and began to use her telempathy, she could hear the whisperings of the students thoughts, it was just a simple task of changing their thoughts so that they could pass by unnoticed.

'Alright! Go!' Phoebe kept a steely eye contact with the students.

'What?' Paige protested

'Go!' Phoebe replied more forcefully, the other two complied by running down the corridor, and were surprised when they passed all the students without noticing. Phoebe followed then into a potions lab, which was where the corridor led. She took a deep breath and lent on the wall, 'Wow, remind not to do that for a while,' she breathed.

'You okay? How'd you do that?' Paige asked.

'New power… explain later…' she whispered.

They walked into the lab, looking around, but they stopped when Pamela stopped walking and narrowed her eyes.

'What is it?' Paige asked, knowing that her niece could be picking up on something with her premonition power.

'Nothing, it's just that… didn't that seem a little too easy to you?'

'Hmm… Now that you mention it, it was quite easy to get here,' Phoebe added, before a blue shield arose from her stomach, humming with electricity and covering the girls.

'Uh… Phoebe? Does your baby just do this to scare us?' Paige asked hopefully.

'No, only when I'm in…' Phoebe's eyes widened as she noticed something, 'Danger!' she pointed shakily at something behind Paige and Pam. They turned round and Paige gasped, a red headed woman, no older than thirty, emerged from the shadows, her eyes had gone completely black… it was Emma!

'Miss me?' she said with a smirk, before throwing a potion at the blue dome protecting the girls. It smashed off the side and Phoebe winced, her empathy letting her feel the strain her baby was under to keep the shield up.

'That potion was strong…' Phoebe groaned

Paige glowered at her possessed friend, 'Of course it was, she wouldn't be head of potions if she didn't know how to make them,'

Emma chuckled darkly, 'Let's see how much the little one can take,' she threw another vial at the shield, it wavered slightly.

'Paige,' Phoebe breathed, she was sweating, 'Do something…'

'Uh… Potion!' Paige called for the next vial that Emma was preparing to throw it appeared in her hand in a swirl of orbs.

Emma just smirked again, and fired a psi blast at the shield, and it was even more powerful than her potion and made the shield collapse, along with Phoebe.

'Pamela! Knock her out or something!' Paige shouted as she healed Phoebe

Pamela turned to the psycho psionic, who had a globe of dark energy floating in front of forehead; Pamela thought quickly and blew a frost cloud at her, encasing Emma in ice.

Paige walked over with a healed Phoebe, 'Can you reverse that?'

'Of course! But I think we should call the exorcist or something because she's went crazy!'

'I think I can help,' Phoebe walked forward

'I am light,

I am one too strong to fight

Return to dark where shadows dwell,

You can't have this Halliwell

So go away and leave my sight,

And take with you, this endless night,'

A strong light burst from the ice, eliminating the darkness and freeing Emma from the ice, she put her hands just above her knees and stumbled slightly.

'You okay?' Paige put her hand on Emma's back

'Yeah,' she straightened up, 'Just got a bit of a headache,'

'Well, sorry to cut this reunion short, but we should probably keep going,' Emma merely nodded and began to walk.

* * *

After walking through some of the school, Emma had found one of the potions classrooms that were protected by evil. The four of them decided to rest, as the demons had began to show up after Emma had been freed.

'You've been in deep thought,' Phoebe noticed her little sister staring at the floor in the classroom, 'What's on your mind?'

Paige looked up, 'I was thinking about the spell you used to free Emma, have you guys ever said it together?'

'What do you mean?'

'Like, have you ever did it with the Power of Three?'

'Uh… no, why?'

Paige jumped off the desk she was sitting on, 'I think if we can find Piper, we can use the Power of Three to finally vanquish this thing! You know, turn the I's into We's, stuff like that,'

'But we need to find Piper first, if we're going to go after this thing, we need to do it in the basement of the Manor,' Phoebe replied.

'Okay!' Pamela hit hands off a desk, 'We have a plan! But how will we find Piper?'

'Uh… I dunno,' Phoebe turned to Paige, 'Could you sense and orb to her?'

Paige closed her eyes and concentrated, and then sighed, 'No, the dark magic must be blocking my sense,'

Phoebe sighed, 'Okay, let's just hope we run into her,' they left the classroom and began walking again.

Paige took the lead, as Phoebe and Emma were still reeling from their fight, and Pamela wouldn't be able to identify traps. They came into another big room; all of them had learned to be cautious in these situations, as this was a great opportunity for enemies to jump them.

Phoebe suddenly stopped walking, 'Pam! Why did you freeze my feet?'

Pamela looked down the gasped at the ice around Phoebe's feet; 'I didn't do that!' she came to a halt as her feet became frozen too! Emma and Paige were affected by this and were stuck on the spot; they didn't know what had happened until dark murky water arose from the ground and revealing the culprit. Aidan.

'Aidan what the hell are you doing?!' Paige exclaimed, she got no response as Aidan made a gesture and made the ice creep up their shins.

Paige orbed out of her frozen mould and appeared next to Aidan, 'I won't let you do this,' she said simply, but he backhanded her across the face, sending her flying into the wall. She got up just in time for Aidan to wrap his strong arm around her neck and bring her close, strangling her.

'Paige orb out!' Phoebe screamed, but all she got in response was a squeal, 'She can't escape.

Emma took charge, 'Aidan! I've seen your relationship with Paige from the beginning and I know you love her more than anything in the world! You are choking the person that would do anything for you! The person who, above all else, had supported you through hard times and most of all, I know for a fact that Paige loves you more than anything she has known of ever will know! I know you're in there, and I know you can hear me!'

Aidan seemed to hesitate for a minute, Paige was beginning to black out, there a blinding flash and Aidan had been cured. He looked around at his situation and immediately recoiled. He stared at Paige for a minute, then pulled her into a hug, 'Oh my God! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!' he pulled her away and put his hand on her neck, letting the blue light heal it. He looked at her again, 'I. Am. So. Sorry.' He kissed her in between each word.

Paige smiled, 'It's okay, I'm glad to know that our love can break through anything,' she smiled wistfully.

'Um… s'cuse me? A little help here?' Pamela waved her arms; they were still trapped in ice. Aidan made a gesture and unfroze their feet before returning to hugging Paige tightly.

* * *

'Are you sure this the right way?'

'Yeah, Emma and I had to report to Piper every hour when we were possessed,'

'Why?'

'Because she's the main person that he's possessed, she's his real vessel,'

Paige and Aidan had been talking about this situation as he led towards Piper, Phoebe, Emma and Pamela walked in front, letting them have some alone time.

They arrived at big wooden doors that were covered in vines, it was very ominous.

'Now are you glad we dropped Chris off at Shelia's?' Phoebe asked her little sister, who just made a face.

'Okay, remember everyone, only attack if Phoebe and I are getting our butts kicked,'

Everyone nodded as Paige threw out her arm and the doors flew open, to reveal a waiting Piper on the other side.

'Piper, we're taking you home,' Phoebe stated.

'The middle sister?' Piper's voice had turned demonic, 'It's a shame you weren't here earlier, I could have possessed you,'

'We're getting our big sister back,' Paige growled as they walked forward.

'Oh really?' Piper advanced on them, but when she got too close, Phoebe's baby raised his shield and blocked her.

'Very nice!' Piper growled, 'I'll take your baby's powers along with your after I kill you both!' she stomped her foot and sent a shockwave into the ground, blasting Phoebe back into a bookcase.

'I knew I forgot to warn Pheebs about something!' Paige hissed to herself, then gasped, 'Phoebe look out!' the bookcase that she had been hit into began to waver and topple! Paige threw out her arms just in time, stalling its fall and preventing it from crushing Phoebe.

She gritted her teeth, 'Here! Catch!' she swung her arms towards Piper, making the massive bookcase move with her gesture. Piper phased out, allowing the bookcase to fly straight through her and shatter on the wall.

'Aidan! Heal her!' Paige pointed to unconscious Phoebe; she then turned to her sister.

'You're coming with us Piper, whether you want to or not!' Paige ran forward and threw out her arm forcefully, sending Piper crashing through the wall. Paige's eyes widened, she hadn't meant to use such a forceful attack! If Piper didn't have the shadow strengthening her, she would have died instantly, but all this did was occupy her slightly.

Paige went over the rubble of the wall and was shocked to see Piper wasn't there

'Paige! He's using Piper's invisibility power! Watch out!' a recently revived Phoebe warned.

Piper reappeared behind Paige, ready to plunge a newly conjured athame into her back but was stopped when she was entombed in think ice; Pamela had been there to save her aunt.

A darkness arose from the 'Piper-sicle' and rose to the ceiling, a maniacal laugh came from it.

'You foolish witches! This is my domain now!' he bellowed, causing the room to shake. Phoebe ran over to her sisters and niece.

'Time to vanquish this guy once and for all,' Phoebe growled

'What? But I thought we had to be in the basement of the Manor,' Paige questioned.

Her big sister shook her head, 'No, he concentrated all his power into her, we're looking at the true Woogy,'

'Well, in that case,' Paige and Phoebe laid their hands on their frozen sister and began to chant,

'We are light,

We are three too strong to fight,

Return to dark, where shadows dwell,

You can't have these Halliwells,

So go away and leave our sight,

And take with you this endless night!'

The girls chanted the spell many times, before the shadow began to writhe in the air. Slowly, light began to break it apart as it screamed in pain, Phoebe Paige shouted the last line of the spell with all their power and the shadow screamed again and exploded in a blinding flash of white.

* * *

P3 was filled to the maximum that night, Piper had hired the band 'Three Doors Down' and they had just finished their song 'Kryptonite' the crowd cheered and applauded and the band finished and let the DJ work the music for the rest of the night.

Piper, Paige and Emma sat in the comfortable sofas of the alcove, clapping at the performance of the band. They were laughing about something when Pamela entered.

'How did you get in here?' Piper asked worryingly, knowing she could be in big trouble for letting a minor in.

'Aunt Piper, I live in the toughest part of the city! You don't get by without a couple of fake ID's!' she flashed her fake drivers license, 'You bouncer may have the brawn, but he sure don't have the brain!' she smirked.

'Ugh! Fine! I'm too tired to argue with you,' Piper surrendered

'Yeah,' Paige put down her bottle of water, 'How does it feel to be 'Dewoogyfied'?' she asked with a laugh.

Piper smiled back cheekily, 'It feels great! I think toasts are in order!' she raised her bottle.

'To Paige!' she started

'For having the sense to contact Phoebe,' Paige said, taking a bow for a laugh, she sat back and made the next toast

'To Emma!'

'For getting Aidan to stop choking you!' Emma said, clanging their drinks together, she raised for bottle again, 'To Piper!'

'Uh… For being able to help in a vanquish even when a ice sculpture!' she struggled to think of anything good she had done all day, she raised her bottle again, 'And to Pamela!'

'For saving Blondie's ass when she had her back turned!' Pamela laughed, so did everyone else, except from Paige who ignored the comment.

'I still can't believe Phoebe's pregnant,' she said, trying to change the subject

'I know! To be honest, I thought she would come home empty handed,' Piper added, 'I wish I got to talk to her though, you sent her back before I unfroze,'

'Well, I think she'll come home soon,'

'Did she say anything about the father?'

'A little, just that he's a witch and a great guy, by Phoebe's standards,' Paige added darkly.

'Uh… speaking of guys,' Pamela nodded her head towards the entrance stair of the club as Aidan walked down them.

'Excuse me,' Paige smirked and walked away, hearing woops coming from behind her.

'Hey,' she greeted her boyfriend with a peck on the lips

'Hey, look I-,'

Paige put her hand up, 'Stop. You don't need to apologise, and I have something to tell you,'

'Oh yeah?' he put his arms around her waist, 'What would that be?'

She took a deep breath, 'You know that apartment you were talking about? You should take it, or rather, we'll take it,'

His eyes widened at her answer, 'Are you sure?'

'Yes,' she rubbed his strong arms with her hands, 'You managed to fight off the Woogy without a spell, which tells me that you love me a lot!' she smirked, 'And believe me,' she moved closer so that she could feel his minty breath on her face, 'The feeling's mutual,'

Aidan Grinned and pulled her in for a passionate kiss, which got many stares form the other clubbers, but they didn't care, they were in love, and now, they were roommates.

* * *

Phoebe paced her room in Sanctuary, she had to tell him, she couldn't keep it a secret any longer.

'Andy!' she yelled at the ceiling

Andy was there in a flash of orbs, 'You rang?'

Phoebe took a deep breath, 'I need to tell you something,'

* * *

(gasps) What is she going to tell him? I think you all know! 

Chapter 25 'Mommy Fearest' is an MX chapter! And will be up soon!


	25. Driving Me Batty

I'm holding the 'Mommy Fearest' storyline back for a while; I should really think things through before I post stuff lol!

ANNOUNCEMENT – My room is being redecorated which means my access to my computer will be limited, but I'll update as fast as possible!

wyatt333 – Thanks! I think it would make a good episode too lol! You'll see I'm holding the 'Mommy Fearest' chapter for while, as I think I need to do this chapter first. And as for your story, I barely have enough time to write this at the moment with exams and all, but I'll check it out as soon as possible! Btw, here are Pamela's powers, and everyone else who has had a power change:

Pamela Walker – Cryokinesis, Telekinesis, Molecular Acceleration, Premonitions, Possession (She hasn't used this yet)

Phoebe Halliwell – Premonitions, Psi Blasts, Empathy, Telepathy, Levitation, Telempathy

Piper Halliwell – Molecular Acceleration, Temporal Stasis, Imperviousness, Intangibility, Invisibility, Geokinesis

Jesse Kilmartin – Imperviousness, Intangibility, Thermal Manipulation

Lexa Pierce – Stealth, Light and Laser Manifestation, Flashing (Moving at the speed of light)

Brennan Mulwray – Electrokinesis, Jet Propulsion, Impervious Electrical Shield 

Aidan Parker – Various Hydrokinetic and Cryokinetic abilities

Princess Pinky – Aww… you're not a loser! It's good to take pride in your work lol! I'm just trying to keep up with you with catchy chapter titles! I'm glad you like Paige/Aidan! I think Paige gets the bottom of the barrel when it comes to guys, so I thought I'd give her a soul mate! And as for your theory, hold on to it!

andy20 – Thanks! You'll see how Andy has reacted soon!

piperfairy63 – LOL! Cliffhangers add suspense! And annoy the reader lol! But hopefully this chapter will help you out! 

**Driving Me Batty**

A dark haired woman with pale skin ran down the metal stairs of the building, her shoes making a dull ringing each time they hit a step. These people had been chasing her for the past week, she had managed to avoid them for a while, but now she was trapped and running for her life.

She jumped down the last couple of steps and began running towards the exit, thinking she would be able escape, until the metal shutters came down in front of the door, blocking her way. The people that been chasing her ran down the stairs, one of them even jumped from five floors up and landed safely, she was wearing sunglasses and had chalk white skin.

'Join the Strand or die!' the woman bellowed.

'Neither!' the woman threw out her arms and a green mass shot from them, the woman jumped out of way, almost flying, but the others weren't so lucky, the green substance hit them and pinned them to the wall.

The woman that jumped advanced on her prey, 'I've got you now…' she smirked

'Hey!' a man's voice came from the top floor, the other two looked up to see him jump from the catwalk above, and slow his descent with blue lights coming from his hands. It was Brennan.

'The girl's coming with us,' he said as he straightened out his jacket.

'Us?' the woman walked closer, 'I think you miscounted,'

'I don't think he did!' another voice came from above, there a bright flash of light next to Brennan, and Lexa appeared, obviously flashed in from the top of the building, with her arm linked with Jesse, she had been his magical taxi.

'Kill them!' the woman shouted, the team turned round to see that the mutants that had been trapped to the wall by the green substance, had managed to escape.

Mutant X split up, Lexa taking the woman in the sunglasses and the guys taking the mutants who had freed themselves. After blocking some attacks, the woman got a hit in and sent Lexa to the floor, luckily she flipped in the air and managed to put out her hands and feet before her back hit the ground. With her amazing fighting skills, Lexa safely assumed that this woman was a feral and that she was in for a tough fight.

Jesse continued to stay massed, the mutant that he was fighting was hitting him with a barrage of energy balls, but all Jesse had to do was wait until Brennan was in position, then he would phase out. Brennan was currently going toe to toe with this guy; he was an elemental too and was shooting wind from his hands. The mutant used his power again and blew a barrel at Brennan, who dodged out of the way.

'Jesse! Now!' he shouted, the molecular obeyed and phased out causing the energy ball throwing mutant and hit his team-mate, as the attack had passed through Jesse, then Brennan fired an electrical arc through Jesse and hit the other mutant.

Lexa, Brennan and Jesse advanced on the remaining mutant who backed away slowly, then surprised them all. The woman let out an eardrum-piercing scream, sending a wave of energy from herself and sending Mutant X back into a collection of barrels and crates. The woman jumped up and flew to the top of the building.

'Ugh… you okay?' Jesse strained to pull Lexa to her feet, she groaned as she got up.

'Oh… God… yeah, my ego's just a little bruised,' she wiped down her pants and looked around.

'Where'd that mutant go?'

Brennan limped over, 'She escaped in the middle of the fight, I tried to stop her, but then we got screamed at,' he arched his back, trying to make it crack; he straightened out after hearing it.

'Well, let's just go and report to Adam,' Jesse stated.

Lexa nodded reluctantly, she had been the most resilient to Adam's return when he had appeared on Sanctuary's doorstep. Although Lexa couldn't stop laughing after she had heard the story of Adam coming back, Apparently, Phoebe had been up in the night, thanks to her second trimester cravings, she had suddenly developed a liking for chocolate chip cookies and onions. She had found Adam lurking about while put the onions on the cookies and as she thought he was an intruder, she used her new gift of telempathy to make him believe that she was a six-year-old girl! The others had woken up to find Adam moaning about his dolly, and Phoebe, who looked very pleased with herself as she scoffed her cookies with an onion topping. Lexa kept picturing Phoebe's face when she had been discovered, she had had a goofy grin on her face and crumbs had outlined her mouth! It always made Lexa laugh.

Lexa hooked arms with Jesse again and held out the other for Brennan.

'You coming?'

Brennan shook his head, 'I think I'll take the stairs,' he would have to climb to the roof as the Helix had been landed there, Lexa couldn't move across far distances with her new power yet and Andy seemed to be ignoring their calls for some reason, so the Helix was the fastest mode transport.

'Suit yourself,' Lexa and Jesse disappeared in a bright flash as Brennan climbed the stairs, two at a time.

* * *

Phoebe sighed and threw a spoon against the wall. She was officially bored.

Everything to be done, had been done, she had e-mailed her column to the paper, she had tidied her room, she had even resorted to cleaning Sanctuary! But even that job ended at some point.

For the past hour, she had sat in the spotlessly clean kitchen and bent the entire collection of cutlery with her mental powers. Phoebe stared at the pile of ruined metal on the counter and sighed again, picking a piece up and bending it back the right way.

'So you've resorted to mindless destruction to pass the time?' Adam walked in with a smirk in his face.

Phoebe smirked back, 'I prefer to think of it as mental exercises,' she retorted, fixing a fork, 'Adam, I need something to do! I'm about a minute away from playing one of Jesse's video games!' she threw the fork onto the floor

Adam laughed into his teacup, 'Well, Ashlocke's on a quest for power, and your baby is bursting with it! You're safe as long as you're here,'

'But I can't go anywhere without a powerful chaperone! It's getting annoying!' she threw another piece of cutlery at the wall, 'I need my freedom!'

Adam walked over to her, 'You want to do what's best for your baby, right?'

'Of course I do,' she answered immediately, 'But I'm getting cabin fever here!'

Adam sighed, 'Alright, how about you spar with me in the dojo?'

Phoebe raised her eyebrows, 'Are you sure you're up to it?'

Adam looked shocked, 'Age isn't everything, you'll soon see,' Phoebe smiled at the thought of something to do, she started to get up until Adam gently pushed her back down on the chair,

'We'll spar after you clean this mess up,' he pointed at the crooked silverware

'What!'

He began to walk away, 'Think of it as mental exercises!'

'If I call it mindless destruction, can I just say I'm sorry and pay for new stuff?' but he had already gone, she sighed and began to straighten the spoons.

* * *

Lexa walked into the kitchen and grimaced at the cookie and onion mix that Phoebe was making.

'Just when you think that you've heard of the weirdest craving, you blow all of them out the water,' she said

Phoebe made a face, 'I know, this will probably seem disgusting to me in a couple of months, but what the hell? It's all I'm in the mood for right now,' she took a bite out of one of the cookies, 'So, how'd the mission go?' she splurted out with a full mouth.

'Uh… Fine, we had a bit of trouble with… the…a…' Lexa put her hand of her forehead.

'You okay?'

'Ugh… Yeah, anyway, the mutant we were supposed to rescue got away during our fight with three Strand members,'

'Three!'

'Yeah, you seen Adam?'

'Uh, yeah he was in the dojo, that guy can fight!' Phoebe exclaimed

Lexa laughed, 'So, what you been up to?'

Phoebe sighed and prepared another cookie, 'Well, is dying of boredom something to do?'

Lexa made a face, 'I'm sorry, you wanna…um… shop…. Shopping?' she managed to blurt out.

'Are you sure you're okay?' Phoebe put her hand over Lexa's forehead.

'Yeah, so? Do you want to go?'

'Okay, just let me finish this off,' Phoebe took another bite from the cookie, Lexa stumbled back slightly, 'Geez! The onions aren't that bad!' her friend was about to reply when she stumbled back again and fell of the floor, unconscious.

Phoebe was immediately at her side, 'Adam! Lexa, wake up! Brennan, Jesse! ADAM!'

* * *

Jesse carried Lexa into the lab with Phoebe and Brennan close behind, Adam was preparing the laser scan to find the source of the problem as the ailing mutant was put down on the chair. Scanning lasers weaved across her body, quickly giving the computer the results.

'Andy! Get your ass down here!' Jesse shouted at the ceiling, but no orbs appeared, 'Damit! What kind of whitelighter is he!' he slammed his fists down on the keyboard.

'Jess, we're not going to let her die, alright? Adam's gonna find out what's wrong and he's gonna fix it! Jesse?' Phoebe shook the molecular sitting next to her, until he fell off his chair and hit the floor.

Adam was shining a small flashlight in Lexa's eyes when Jesse collapsed; he quickly rushed over to his 'son' and dragged him on to another chair.

'Adam, we're dropping like,' Phoebe's comment was interrupted by a dull thud, Brennan had fell to the ground too.

* * *

Andy watched his daughter from his cloak of invisibility; she was currently helping to move her aunt's belongings into the back of a car. It seemed that Paige was moving out, as Piper, Emma, and everyone else loading everything into her car.

Andy had been doing this a lot lately, he would just watch his daughter live out her life, he would even help her out if she was being picked on at school, but he would never reveal himself, he would usually just trip up the person who was hassling her. But he didn't need to do this often; his daughter could take care of herself, just like her mother. Andy would laugh every time Pamela used her power to toss a bully's lunch into the air, and have land on top of them!

But she didn't fit in here, at a mortal school, even though the other kids didn't know what it was, they knew that Pamela was different and they victimised her for it, Andy would need to find a way to get where she belonged, to get her, into Magic School.

Andy smiled as he saw her grin at something Paige had said, that mischievous glint in her eye was the same as the one Prue had when she was having fun. She ran back up the Manor steps to collect more boxes, as Andy silently orbed out………

'So, what's wrong with them?' Phoebe asked Adam with glassy eyes as she stroked Brennan's hair.

'Well, to put it simply, their brain cells are deteriorating,' he replied with a solemn tone.

'H-how do we stop it?' she asked

'Well, I'm working on something, but I need to find out what caused this before I can go any further,'

'Alright, let's get to work,'

'Phoebe…'

'Don't say it. I'm not going to let the father of my son die, do you hear me!'

'How did you…'

'Know? According to your file on me, I'm a powerful psionic, you should already know the answer to your question,' Phoebe was about to walk away, when she stopped, realising she had let too much slip.

'Your powers wouldn't allow you to know what I was going to say, how did you know?'

Phoebe froze; she had kept a lot of her powers hidden for so long, she wasn't about to let this ruin it.

'Well, since the secret's out, I might as well do this,' Phoebe closed her eyes and concentrated deeply, when she opened them, her eyes had went completely white; she was looking into different times!

'Phoebe?' Adam cautiously approached the white-eyed witch, who seemed to be ignoring him. The white of her eyes vanished and she went back to normal,

'A bat feral hit them with some sort of supersonic blast, does that help?'

Adam looked stunned, 'Um… yes… I had no idea you could do stuff like that,' he was about to turn away when Phoebe stopped him by grabbing the sides of his head.

'You still don't know,' she fired a psi blast at him, Adam blinked a few times before realizing that Phoebe was holding his head.

'Know what?' he shook free from Phoebe's grasp

'Oh… Nothing… Anyway, I'll go and find the bat feral,' she turned to leave when Adam grabbed her arm.

'Phoebe! No, it's too dangerous! Ashlocke will,'

'Regret it if he tries to take me on,' she turned to face him, 'Look, Adam, I'm not going to wait around for my friends to die! I can take care of myself!' she shook her arm from his grasp and walked out of the lab, leaving Adam with the strange feeling of that he was forgetting something.

* * *

Phoebe landed the Helix in a field of corn; she had activated the cloak while in midair so she wouldn't be seen. She had used her powers to locate the bat feral, her senses also told her that the mutant was wounded, which made her job a lot easier.

Phoebe sighed and shielded her eyes from the burning sun, she couldn't see over the tall crops and that meant she had only one option. She looked around to make sure no one was around, then levitated just high enough to see over the crops, and she found what she looking for. An old barn.

She prepared to use another one of her hidden abilities, she flapped her arms and slowly took off into the air, knowing it would take too long to walk through the field, she flew low across the crops, feeling the top of the corn hit her chest. Phoebe had had these powers ever since she had developed her psi blast power, so she knew that it wasn't the baby's doing. They had scared her at first, but when she realised that she was more powerful than her sisters, she began to take pride in her strength. She landed softly with a small thud, running slightly to slow her landing; Phoebe quickly brushed off her maternal pants and began to walk into the barn.

She smirked as she felt the pain of the mutant, 'I know you're here, and I know you're injured, so, why don't you make this easier for both of us and give up?'

Phoebe suddenly felt something come at her from the right, she levitated out of the way just in time to avoid a sound wave which shattered a piece of the wall of the barn.

She came back down to the ground and looked at the woman to her right, 'Not the warmest welcome I've had, but it'll do!'

'I'd rather die than go with you!' the woman spat

'Well, you might just get your wish, since I don't need you alive. I just need… you!' Phoebe backhanded the injured mutant, who retaliated with a punch, which was blocked. Phoebe then threw the woman's arm down the way, causing her to turn around from the force, she then wrapped her arm around the woman's neck, pulled off her sunglasses and threw her into the light that was coming in through the hole in the wall. The feral screamed and covered her eyes, 'That's the thing about bats, your eyes can't really handle the light very well,' Phoebe fired a psionic blast at the back of her head, causing her to go flying through the damaged wall and have here eyes exposed to the sunlight.

Phoebe walked out of the barn and around to the bat feral, who was lying dazed on the ground.

'Here, this will bind your powers, along with your sensitive vision,' Phoebe threw a potion at the woman. It exploded on her chest and bound her powers, her head to rolled to the side and her eyes closed,

'I forgot to mention it doubles as a sleeping potion,' Phoebe said the unconscious woman before lifting her up by putting her arms underneath her shoulders and taking off back towards the Helix.

Phoebe reflected on what had just happened, she wasn't usually that cold during a mission, she was the one who was in touch with everyone's feeling and offered mercy, Lexa was the Mutant X ice queen, so why did she act like she did?'

'Hey Adam,' Phoebe dumped the woman on the floor, 'I'm bringing her in,' she began to push the buttons on the controls and take off.

'Good! Because the others aren't going to last much longer,' his voice echoed in her head, thanks to her comlink.

'Okay, I'll be there as soon as possible,' she increased the speed as she flew towards home.

* * *

Lexa placed the final crystal around the mutant, trapping her in the magical cage. All three of them had managed to be cured from the effects of the feral's sound wave, and were now waiting for her to wake up.

Brennan was still coming around; Phoebe hadn't left his side since she got back, he groaned as he opened his eyes.

'Hey you…' Phoebe whispered with a smile.

He managed a weak smile, 'Mm… hey,'

'Don't scare me like that again, okay?' he was now sitting up

'Oh, I promise!' he swirled her around and made her fall into his lap, Phoebe smiled as she placed her arms around his neck, leaning in for a delicate kiss, 'I love you,' she breathed.

He was holding on to her arm as she sat side ways on his lap, 'Love you too…' he replied huskily before kissing her passionately and letting her hands roam his hair.

'Alright you guys, break it up, seeing is almost as bad as eating one of Phoebe's onion cookies!' Lexa entered with a smirk.

Phoebe gave her a look, 'Meh… Just because you ain't getting any,' Phoebe smirked back

Lexa gave her a friendly glare, 'I am getting _plenty_, thank you very much!'

Phoebe laughed, 'Anyway, where's bat girl?'

'Still knocked out in the crystal cage,' Lexa gestured behind her, 'Adam wants to hold her for questioning,'

'What! Does he realise how dangerous that is? Ashlocke might have a way of tracking her!' Phoebe stood up.

'Yeah, but he thinks Jesse shining a flashlight in her eyes will make her tell the truth,'

'C'mon, we'd better go and help,' Phoebe leaned up lightly kissed Brennan, 'You coming?'

'Yeah, let's go,'

The three witches walked into the main part of Sanctuary just in time to see the woman in the cage be sucked into a vortex that had opened beneath her, Jesse was watching, completely speechless. The mutant screamed as she disappeared into the portal, leaving to trace.

'What the hell was that!' Jesse pointed at the now empty crystal cage

Phoebe's eyes widened in realization, 'She was summoned...'

* * *

Did you like that? What other powers is Phoebe hiding? Keep reading to find out!

I still need to decide on Chapter 26, but it will be up soon!

ANNOUNCEMENT: just thought you'd like to know that Connor will be born in Chapter 36 'I Scream The Baby Electric' I know I shouldn't have told you, but I couldn't keep it a secret lol!


	26. Mommy Fearest

Princess Pinky – lol, I'm glad you like the craving! And I thought of a Bat Feral because all the ferals in Mutant X always seem to be feline (like Shalimar) and don't worry! Phoebe will be revealing more of her mental abilities in this chapter.

Pyrena – Love your new name lol! And I'm glad you like Phoebe hiding her powers, I think it adds to the mystery! Everyone seems to like the craving lol!

Charmed-greek – LOL! Glad you liked it! Thanks for reviewing!

Wyatt333 – Yeah, I was a little lost about a chapter title for Connor's birth (I need some of Pinkies imagination lol) and yeah! Weird craving! Lol! Thanks for reviewing! And Phoebe can see into different times at will! She's done a good job covering her tracks lol!

Andy20 – They never should have brought the feral back to Sanctuary huh? Lol and Phoebe's powers will be revealing themselves slowly, and you'll see her personality change with them…

Piperfairy63 – Yeah, but I think Phoebe proved herself in the last chapter, so I think she'll be around more often! And I thought up the craving just thinking what I like, and what I didn't like (I hate onions too!) and I explained Andy slightly, he's ignoring his charges calls and concentrating on Pamela instead!

Anianka – HOLY HELL! That's the biggest review I have ever had! It probably took longer to write than this story took to read lol! Thanks for all of the praise! I'll try and answer some of your questions

About Phoebe not contacting her sisters, like I said above to andy20, her 'master' powers have begun to affect her personality. I think Emma became quite heartless in the end of season 2 and I blame her strength. She's beginning to act more independent now that she's left her sisters, and her powers will soon push the boundaries of the Phoebe we know…

Lol, sorry! But you're gonna have to wait and see about the marriage thing! I don't want to give the entire storyline away!

Shalimar's character is going to be shrouded in mystery for the rest of the story, you'll see that the characters from each story have always came close to meeting each other, but have always been just out of reach, but it will all reach a height in the 4 PART finale! I've got most of it written lol!

Once I flip back to Piper and Paige's story, Emma's secrecy will begin to break down without her even knowing it!

I'm so glad you liked Aidan! I thought that Phoebe and Brennan would make a great couple even before I began this story, and I didn't even need to think of Piper's love interest! Like there could be anyone else for her lol! And I agree about Richard, I never like him; I think Paige has always struck out when it comes to love.

I'll be developing Pam and Andy's relationship in the sequel (United As Three) for now, they going to stay apart.

BTW: Drake is Phoebe's love interest in late season 7, he's a Mercury demon and had only two weeks to live (from what I read from sides anyway)

**Mommy Fearest**

Phoebe rolled over in her bed, still in a slumber, her arm landed on the other side of the bed. Missing the warmth of Brennan, Phoebe began to stir as she realised she was in the bed alone. She swung her legs onto the floor, her body wanting onion cookies as soon as her feet touched the ground, but she ignored the craving the clambered out of her bed. She walk out of her bedroom and into the main area of Sanctuary, her slippers padding softly on the marble floor. Phoebe smiled slightly when she saw Brennan sitting at the computers.

'Honey, it's three o'clock in the morning, what are you doing?' she walked up behind him and rubbed his shoulders slightly

'Mm… Oh, I'm just double checking security,'

'In the middle of the night?'

'Well, Ashlocke might know where we are now, this is the best time for him to attack, when we're all asleep,' he turned to her, 'I just don't want you or my son to get hurt,'

Phoebe sighed and put her left hand to the side of his face,

'Brennan, I'm fine, the baby's fine. I can look after myself as well! I'm pregnant, not porcelain,'

'Is it a crime to worry about my wife?' Brennan's eyes widened at his slip.

'What did you just say?' Phoebe's eyes bulged

He sighed, 'Ah, what the hell…' he pulled a velvet box out of pocket, Phoebe almost fainted on the spot, 'Lexa helped me pick it, so blame her if you don't like it,' he opened the box, revealing a simple, but unbelievably beautiful diamond ring.

'Was that your official proposal?'

Brennan rolled his eyes, 'Of course not,' he took her hand, 'Phoebe Halliwell, in this past year, you have brought me more happiness than anyone ever had in my entire life, we've been through so much together, and I can't imagine living without you. And now, to top it off, you're giving me the gift of a son. I love you, always. So, will you marry me?'

'Hmm… Let me think…' Phoebe smirked and looked up at the ceiling, then grinned and looked at him, 'Of course I'll marry you!' she lunged at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him passionately, 'But we'll do it when we kill Ashlocke…' she touched his bottom lip with her index finger.

Brennan smiled, 'Is that a guarantee that we'll kill Ashlocke?'

Phoebe smiled back, 'No, it's so that if we don't kill him, I won't need to marry you!' she laughed.

Brennan put on a look of fake hurt, 'Okay, just trample my heart!'

She laughed again, then put her hands on his arms, 'But seriously, I love you Brennan Mulwray…' she kissed him before holding up her new ring to the dim light, 'Hmm… that girl has good taste! I'll need to raid Lexa's jewellery collection more often!' she turned to her new fiancé, 'C'mon, come back to bed,'

'I'll be there in a minute, I'll just check things over one more time,' she nodded and began to walk back to her room.

_You're afraid that no matter how many times you check, you won't be able to protect your family_

The voice of doubt that he had been hearing all day returned, but he shook it off the headed back to the bedroom.

* * *

The heat rising from the lava would have been enough to melt a human, Barbas had to hand it to the Charmed Ones, they had put him deeper into Purgatory than he had ever been in his two thousand year life. His body awoke after projecting to Earth; he began to sway from the sudden rush of being back in his body.

'You know, they've banished you four times, any sane demon would have given up by now,' a scaly demon on the other side of the pit called to him.

Barbas merely smirked, 'Then I then I'm guessing you're as crazy as I am, as…' he waved his hand in front of his face, 'Your greatest fear is of falling down there,' he pointed down towards the chasm where no demon returned from.

'I didn't say I was a sane demon, I just said that one would have given up by now,' the demon sat up from dangling his legs off the ledge, 'So, is that witch succumbing to your whisperings yet?'

'In time, my fellow demon, it's taken a while,' he raised his arms upwards, 'But he's finally beginning to wane,' he lowered his arms after each word, returned them to his sides.

'Well hurry up! This scenery's getting boring!' the demon kicked a loose stone into the abyss.

'Patience!' Barbas sniffed the air and smiled, 'It's almost time,'

* * *

'You tricked me,'

'No I didn't! I told you we were going clothes shopping,'

'Yeah, but I thought you meant shops like, DKNY, The Banana Republic, not a store called 'Mommy To Bee' with the logo being a bee!'

Lexa sighed and flopped into a chair that was patterned with clouds, looking around the shop with a look of disdain of her face. Phoebe stopped looking through the shelves and turned to her friend.

'Look, I can't fend off all these cheery people by myself! They all want to touch my stomach and I'm sick of it! I need someone bitchy to scare them off, and I need someone judgemental to tell me if I look like an idiot in these clothes!' she held up the clothes, 'So shut up and help me find some damn clothes!'

'Oh!' one of the happy store clerks came over with a hand over her mouth, 'You shouldn't use the 'd' word in front of the child!' she beamed and went to touch Phoebe's stomach, but let out a yelp when she was shocked with electricity on contact.

'Uh… must have been static electricity,' Phoebe covered.

The woman smiled nervously and backed away to tend to one of the more happy mothers.

'Well, looks like you don't need me to fend off space invaders!' Lexa joked

Phoebe patted her stomach lovingly, 'I love you, little guy,' she then picked up the bags of her already purchased items, 'C'mon, I've had enough; let's go do some shoe shopping. By the looks of things, the words 'sexy' and 'maternal wear' don't go together!' Lexa laughed as they left the store, to the relief of the staff!

* * *

Brennan sat on the computers in Sanctuary, which was strange, as they were usually Jesse's haven of the place, the Brennan had been bugging him so much about security that he had just up and left!

Ever since Mutant X had captured the Link, everyone was constantly tense due to the fact that the Strand could storm their Sanctuary at any minute.

No matter how much you do this, you can't affect the outcome; you can't save Phoebe and your son

Brennan turned around on the computer stool to where the voice had came from, he scanned the room with his eyes and couldn't see anything, until he heard a piercing scream come from the door to the hangar. Phoebe! Brennan vaulted over the desk and sprinted towards the hangar, intent on saving his fiancé.

Brennan gaped when he saw Phoebe cornered against the wall, with Ashlocke charging up an energy blast, ready to fire!

'Brennan help me!' Phoebe screamed

Brennan tried to move put was paralysed on the spot!

You can't save them, you don't have the power 

Ashlocke was now smirking as the ball of glowing energy enlarged in his hand. Brennan fired an electrical arc at Ashlocke, but he put up his shield and it rebounded to the wall.

'BRENNAN!' Phoebe screamed as the energy blast hit her, sending her into the wall and landing in a crumpled heap on the floor. Dead.

'NO!' the parlays wore off and he ran to Phoebe.

Barbas flamed in as Brennan tried reviving Phoebe, an athame smoked into his hand as he advanced on his unaware victim. He was interrupted by Lexa and the real Phoebe coming through the hangar door.

'Oh my God…' Phoebe fired a telempathic starburst, flying at the Demon of Fear, who managed to flame out before the mental attack hit him, causing the psychic globe to hit the wall harmlessly.

The illusion faded away in Brennan's arm, his eyes widened when he looked up and saw Phoebe, very much alive, standing over him with a psionic blast floating in front of her.

'Brennan, I'm okay, it's alright, I'm here,' she knelt down beside him

He looked up, trying to make sure that it wasn't another illusion, once he was certain; he wrapped his arms around Phoebe and held to her tight.

Lexa put her hands on her hips and sighed, 'What the hell was that all about?'

* * *

'So, why is this guy got you so worried?' Lexa was setting crystals around room, so they act like an alarm system.

'Because, he can paralyse you with your greatest fear, and if that isn't enough, he'll probably try to plunge an athame into your back when you least expect it,'

'If you know so much about him, how is he not dead?'

'Because you can't vanquish fear, which makes him invincible in a way,' Phoebe replied.

The two walked back the lab, where Jesse, Brennan and Adam were waiting for them, along with Andy.

'Look who's listening again!' Brennan joked, referring to the fact that Andy had been ignoring them for the past month.

'He had a good reason, trust me.' Phoebe winked in his direction

'Yeah, sorry you guys,' he apologised

Lexa waved her hand at him, 'Don't worry about it, the guys and me almost died! But don't worry about it!'

'Lexa, remember our little talk about tact?' Phoebe shot her a look

'Alright you two, that's enough, we need to deal this demon,' Adam took charge

Phoebe, 'Okay, now that you're back, you're a target for Barbas, just like the rest of you,' she nodded her head in the direction of the others.

'Um, what makes you so fearless?' Lexa asked with a raised eyebrow.

'Because I can cloak my fear from him with my powers, but I can't cover all of you,'

'Well, he already tried to get to me, so I don't think he'll try again,' Brennan chipped in.

'Well, I just hope you guys can conquer your fears, because it's not a nice experience to be literally scared to death,' Phoebe replied.

* * *

'Good job,' the scaly demon clapped slowly to show that he was being sarcastic, now out of Purgatory with the help of Barbas.

Barbas sneered and stared at the wall in his cave, 'The other witches intercepted me before I could finish the job, but since you're here, you might as well be useful,' he put his hands together and smirked.

The lizard demon jumped from its stony seat 'What else am I doing?' he said, signalling that he would do it.

'Good, just get in position when I tell you to,' Barbas smirked again.

* * *

'Look, you guys, Andy will orb me out of I'm in danger, don't worry!' Phoebe pulled the woollen poncho over her head, cursing the fact that her brown suede jacket wouldn't fit her five-month pregnant body.

'But what if it's a trap?' Brennan asked with his arms folded, they had received a distress call from a mutant looking to put into the underground, but with Barbas after them, it was dangerous to split up.

'Well, if it's a trap, I'm the least vulnerable since I can hide my fear,' Phoebe retorted, 'Sweetie, I'll be fine, but the rest of you need to look after each other until I get back,' she gave him a quick peck on the cheek and linked arms with Andy and orbed out, leaving Brennan without a choice in the matter. But as they orbed out, Barbas flamed in.

* * *

Phoebe wandered around the building site, peering around every corner as Andy followed her, she was being extra careful not to attract the attention of the builders.

'So…' she started a conversation, 'Pam's a great kid, isn't she?'

Andy was surprised by this question, but answered, 'Yeah, just her mother, how did you know I had been watching her?'

Phoebe turned round with a psionic blast hovering in front of her, 'Does that answer your question?'

Andy smirked, 'Yeah, Phoebe?'

'Hmm?'

'Once the baby is born, you're probably going to go back to San Francisco, right?'

Phoebe stopped walking, 'Uh… I don't know, probably, why?'

'It's just that…. Pam is sorta singled out at the school she goes to right now, and I was wondering…'

'If I could get her into Magic School?' Andy sighed at his interruption, Phoebe put up her hands, 'That wasn't me going through your thoughts! That was me knowing the actions of a concerned father,' she smiled, 'I don't think I'll need to get her in, because if she really is unhappy, Piper and Paige will get her out of there, they wouldn't let their favourite niece suffer,' Andy nodded, still looking at the ground, 'You miss her, don't you?' he looked up at her statement with glassy eyes,

'Pam shouldn't have to go through life without her mother,'

Phoebe gave him a sympathetic smile and hugged him, not noticing the demon sneaking up on them both. Andy opened his eyes, noticing the demon behind them; he pushed Phoebe out of the way as the demon fired an energy ball. The attack hit Andy, sending orbs out in all directions, but they came back together as he reformed.

Phoebe, now aware of the demon, fired a psychic blast at him, and was shocked when the demon only groaned slightly and held his head. She noticed that the scales that covered his body shimmered when the blast had hit him; they were protecting him against magical attacks.

Andy orbed in behind the demon the hit on the back of the head with a pipe that he found on the ground, the scaly being turned round and backhanded him, sending Andy into the air and into a pile of bricks, knocking him out.

The demon turned to Phoebe with an evil grin on his face, she merely smirked.

'Well, since Barbas isn't here, I guess I'm just going to have to practice on you,' Phoebe's forehead began to glow a pale orange, she locked eyes with her foe and the same light appeared on the demon's head. He began to writhe as he fell to knees in pain, Phoebe looked on with a cold glare as the demon blew up, her glare was replaced with a look of horror as purple goo flew from the demon as it blew up, covering her with the substance, 'Ew…' she grimaced as she looked at her clothes, now laden with demon guts.

She shook off her disgust and went to wake up Andy, who was self healing, thanks to his whitelighter abilities. The gash on his head disappeared as he came to with a groan.

'Ugh… Where's the demon?'

'I vanquished him,' she looked to the pile of dust on the ground, 'I think he was just a distraction though,' she helped him to his feet.

'Aw man…' he rubbed his head, 'Being self healing doesn't take away the aftermath,' he looked at Phoebe, 'We should get back, Phoebe?' she was still staring at the dust on the ground, 'Phoebe?' she came out of her trance and smiled.

'Yeah, let's get back, the others might be in trouble,' she grabbed his arm and they orbed out, with Phoebe still looking at the pile of dust on the ground.

* * *

Orbs illuminated a dark Sanctuary, but the light disappeared as soon as Phoebe and Andy materialized.

'I can't see a thing,' Phoebe thought aloud

'Here, this might help,' although Phoebe couldn't see it, Andy put out his hand and slowly, orbs began to cluster in his palm making a small light.

'Cool,' Phoebe could see their immediate area thanks to the orb ball.

'Aw… for me? How touching,' a voice said, Phoebe and Andy looked around. Suddenly, the lights came on, revealing Barbas standing next to the computers with the others behind him. From what Phoebe could tell, they were in some sort of trance, their eyes were pen and bloodshot, but they were standing.

'What did you do to them!' Phoebe asked, voice raised

'Oh, these guys?' Barbas looked behind him with a smirk, 'They're just trapped in their fears, don't be afraid,' he laughed.

'Andy, get outta here! You're a target!' he quickly nodded and began to orb out, but the fear demon waved his hand and sent the orbs into the wall. Andy reappeared on the ground, unconscious.

'Watcha gonna do now, _Pheebs_?' he smirked at her again.

Phoebe turned to him, she didn't have a potion and she couldn't think of a spell of banish him, she had no choice. She had only used this power once, and it had scared the hell out of her, she had vowed not to use it, but her friends would only be able to fight their fears for so long.

She looked at him with a blank face, 'Aren't you going to trap me to?' she put out her arms then let them drop to her sides.

'With pleasure…' he waved his hand in front of his face slowly, and his eyes widened when he saw the result.

'Surprised?' Phoebe cocked her eyebrow.

He scowled at her, 'How is this possible?'

'That's my secret,' she narrowed her eyes, 'Let's see what _your_ greatest fear is,'

Phoebe began to concentrate; she drew on every negative emotion within a ten-mile radius. Fear, anger, pain, sadness, they all began flow to one spot, slowly adding to the black aura now engulfing Phoebe. The darkness entered her, she closed her eyes from the entrance and when she opened them again, her eyes were completely black! Dark shockwaves flew from her forehead, hitting Barbas with a barrage of negative energy; they started to come faster and faster until they became one large beam. The power from this attack reduced the demon to his knees, he gritted his teeth as he started to come apart.

'I'll… be… back!' he managed to look straight into the emptiness of Phoebe's black eyes before he disintegrated and blew up.

Phoebe's eyes returned to normal and she fell to the ground on her knees. She never wanted to feel like that again.

* * *

Phoebe sat on the couch in the rec room, she was typing up her column for the next day, she looked at the next letter that Elise had sent her to put in her column, and she smiled when she saw the title

_Secrets in South Bay_

_Dear Phoebe,_

_I've been dating this guy for about six months, we have so much in common and I really like him, but the thing is, he doesn't know everything about me. I have this horrible secret, I want him to know, but I don't want him to be scared off, and I'm afraid that even if he were okay with it, it would affect our relationship forever. Please help!_

Phoebe pondered over her reply for a minute, thinking about all the times she had wanted to tell her boyfriend that she was a witch.

She thought of Jason, remembering the disaster of him finding out her secret. It hadn't been the best way, since he found out by her and her sisters orbing in infront of him!

Leslie… she had thought that that relationship had some potential, but he had only been in town for three months and the two had hardly seen each other during that time. When he moved to LA, they had decided to cut their losses and say their goodbyes.

She thought she was lucky to be in love with another magical being, since there would be no secrets, but she quickly thought of her magical relationships and realised that she's just got lucky with Brennan.

Cole… Just the thought of him gave her a headache, they had had such a rough time, they managed to stay together for two years, but his demonic past never really left him, she had been glad when he died, and hoped that he found the peace he never had.

Drake, a smile played across her face at the thought of him, he had been so energetic and vibrant! He always kept Phoebe laughing in the two weeks that he was around. Once again, it was a demonic past that had stood in the way of that relationship.

Phoebe began typing rapidly, now inspired to write an answer.

_Dear Secrets in South Bay,_

_You should make sure completely that he is the right guy to tell, you don't need to know if you want to spend the rest of your life with him! But you need to know for certain that you want to tell him, if you have any doubts, hold back until you're sure. As for your secret, in these situations, you'll probably find that the guy has a secret too! We all have our pasts; we just don't share them sometimes!_

_GOOD LUCK!_

She held her engagement ring up to the light, watching it sparkle on the light that hung from the ceiling; she smiled at light beams reflecting off it and on to the wall. All this time, Brennan had been behind her, reading her column and smiling at her admiring her ring.

He knelt down behind her so she could feel his breath on her neck she turned her head slightly and smiled, he walked around the couch and joined her, she moved closer and he put his arm around her, she leaned back onto it and looked at the screen.

'Good advice,' Brennan said with a smile.

'Thanks, I hope she takes it!' she e-mailed the column and closed the laptop, just basking in the happiness of being in his arms.

'You know, I've been thinking about this, I don't know if you have, but… I have some suggestions for baby names.

'Oh?' she sounded interested, ever since her premonition at the ranch, she had been puzzled as to where the name Connor came from, maybe she was going to get her answer.

Brennan began to say names and explain them; Phoebe just snuggled closer to him. It would be moments like this that would keep her together, after using her hidden power on Barbas today, she had felt sad after knowing that all the emotions that she drew upon had been real.

She began to fall asleep, her eyes closing and her body moving even closer to Brennan's warmth, and just before she fell asleep, she heard Brennan say,

'And the last one is Connor, I thought we could call him after my Dad,'

* * *

Did you like that? Phoebe's getting pretty scary! But I think that last but shows that she's still her.

Chapter 27 'Stepford Witches' will be up soon! 


	27. Stepford Witches

OMG! I looked back on the previous chapter, and I realised that Jesse didn't say a thing! Just for that, this chapter is going to be full of JesseLexa action! Enjoy!

Sorry if these responses are a little short, I'm really tired as I write them

Princess Pinky – I got the idea from Emma's power, but it isn't the same thing and I'm glad you liked the shocking bit! They'll be more of Connor's pre natal antics! And who says Barbas is gone forever? ;)

Rylecrow – Glad you enjoyed it! It's good to say new people like my story! 

Piperfairy63 – Yeah I loved that episode! Glad you liked the chapter!

Pyrena – Phoebe will get a rude awakening when it comes to her sisters in 'United As Three' I thought it would be good for Brennan to propose! I haven't shown much of his relationship with Phoebe!

Wyatt333 – Willow? She's so cool! And you'll need to wait and see about Barbas!

**Stepford Witches**

'Lexa! Watch out!' Jesse pushed her out of the way and massed out, making the lightning from an attacker bounce off harmlessly. Jesse then threw out his hand, sending a frigid blast of thermal energy from his palm; he had learned to focus his new power into an independent substance, so that he could throw out searing hot beams, or sub zero blasts. The Strand member's eyes widened as the beam came towards him, he ducked out of the way, letting the cold blast hit a pillar behind him.

Brennan, Lexa and Jesse were fighting with the Strand, Phoebe had wanted to go with them, but the others had put their feet down and told her to stay at Sanctuary, as she would be safe there and that she would slow the rest of them down as she wasn't as fast as she used to be.

Brennan fired an electrical arc at the frozen pillar, causing the pile of wood that was held on top to come down on at least five Links. He smiled at his work before quickly putting up an electrical shield to stop acid from hitting him. He put his comring up to his mouth

'Phoebe, any time would be good!' he shouted sarcastically into the ring

She groaned on the other end of the line, 'You know, I'm not as fast on the keyboard as Jesse is! Give me some freaking time!' she hit a key one last time and let out a 'Ha!' in triumph, 'Okay! Lexa, it's your turn, the boys will keep them busy while you get in and get out! Stay in touch!'

'Got it, Mom,' Lexa sarcastically.

'Okay,' Phoebe began typing on the keyboard again, ignoring Lexa's remark, 'Alright, Lexa? As soon as you open the door, there's three guys in there, they're hiding behind stuff, but I think you can take them,' Phoebe had scanned the floor plan with the temperature sensor, knowing that there was people inside.

'Got it,' Lexa crept up the stairs of the building, she could still hear the odd crackle of electricity and a scream of pain, but apart from that, she was completely out of the battle. She reached the door and shrouded herself in light, making her invisible, carefully placing her hand on the knob; she was surprised when the door disappeared in a flash of light! Careful not to let go of the handle, she quickly took this advancement into account and pushed open the door, just because it was invisible, it didn't mean it had went into thin air.

'Okay, one of those guys must be a feral, because he's coming at you from behind!' Phoebe told her. Lexa quickly spiralled round on the spot and sent a powerful beam of light at the dark haired mutant that was running at her, knowing that it usually took a lot for ferals to go down. Unfortunately, her little light show had attracted the attention of the other mutants in the room, who were now looking at the space where the light had come from.

'It must the invisible one that Ashlocke warned us about!' the female said.

The other woman gave a smirk, 'Why do you think I'm here?' she put up her hands, releasing a blue gas into the air, which cancelled out Lexa's invisibility and exposed her!

The other woman threw an energy ball at Lexa, who managed to flash out of the way just in time and flash back in behind them, hitting both Links with lasers. Lexa ran to the next door and pulled it open, she entered and smiled, the room was completely empty! She was about to walk over when Phoebe's voice started in her head.

'No! Don't! There's lasers in that room!' Phoebe shouted, she was looking at the infa red view of the room. Lexa sighed and put her hands on her hips,

'What do you suggest?'

'Uh… Oh! Use the potion I gave you, it will make the lasers show up,' she turned to the leader of Mutant X who been behind her, watching the screen and listening to the conversation.

'Okay,' Lexa took a blue potion from her pocket and threw it down to the floor, a navy gas rose from the ground, much like the one that the mutant had used to reveal Lexa when she was invisible.

'Okay Lex, it's all you now,' Phoebe said as the gas exposed thin red lines that stretched across the room. Lexa merely nodded to herself and put out her hands, she channelled her power and her palms began to glow with a blinding light, she made a slow gesture with her hands, pushing back the lasers and bending them with the light coming from her hands. She made it to the other side of the room and instead of opening the door carefully, she pulled back her arms, and then threw them out, causing light to fly from her fingers and blast the door to smithereens. But she was too late, Gabriel Ashlocke was already here and he was holding the serum that Mutant X had been sent to recover.

Lexa put up her hands and they began to glow, 'Hand that over or you'll get a taste of this little light mine,' she snarled. He gave his trademark creepy smile before pulling out a potion vial,

'I'd love to stay, but I've place to be, people to kill,' she was about to fire when he threw the potion at her feet, Lexa's skin glowed a purple colour before returning to normal, she stumbled back, effected by the potions magic. He smirked again before releasing an energy blast at her, sending Lexa into the concrete wall fast enough for her to make a dent in it; she smirked at her unconscious body before fading out.

* * *

Adam looked on as Brennan and Lexa were fighting about the mission.

'Are you kidding me! Where were you when I was facing Ashlocke alone, huh? Maybe destroying half the building by bringing most of it down on the Links, which could have killed them!'

'What! Nobody told you to go alone! You could have waited for me and Jesse to finish off the mutants, but no! Lexa Pierce has to go solo all the time!'

'Alright, both of you, enough!' Adam ended the fight as Jesse came in.

'Adam, they're both right we were severely outnumbered and Lexa could have been killed,' he said,

'Well, Phoebe can't go on missions, especially since she's beginning her final trimester,'

'I don't think it would have made a difference if she had been there or not! There were about fifteen Links there!'

Phoebe walked into the computer area with a smile on her face, but it vanished as soon as she saw that her teammates were in the middle of an argument.

'We may be four of the most powerful witches, put we can't go up against that many of our own kind, especially since the only way to end the fight is to kill them!'

'You guys…' Phoebe tried to start

'What were we even doing there anyway! It seemed as if the entire Strand was there and you didn't even know that we were going after! What do you think we are? Adams Angels? We don't work for you anymore! You abandoned us and now you come back just so you can see a magical baby being born!' Lexa said

'Hey, I've…' Phoebe was cut off again, this time by Brennan,

'Lexa, how would you know how many Strand members were there? All you had to do was get the serum and get out, but you couldn't even do that right!' Lexa was about to respond with a venomous comment, but was interrupted by Phoebe putting her fingers in her mouth and letting out a shrill whistle.

'God, do I need to go into labour to get any attention around here?' Phoebe looked around everyone.

'What is it?' Jesse spoke,

'This!' she slammed a pad down on the desk, 'I just cracked the Ashlocke vanquishing spell!'

The pad was handed around everyone as she explained, 'I got to thinking, what was the most powerful vanquishing spell I have ever used? And I remembered! The spell that calls upon the power of my entire family line! So I went through the files on the computer and found all the previous members of Mutant X!' Lexa looked up at this, 'So if we can pull from the power of every Mutant X member…'

'Then we might have enough power to get rid of Ashlocke!' Jesse beamed at the paper in front of him. Lexa looked as if she was about to say something, but then she groaned and put her hand on her head.

'You okay?' Jesse asked with a voice full concern

'Yeah… I just need to go lie down for a bit,' she replied and walked away, leaving the others confused.

* * *

Adam was typing furiously on the keyboard in the lab, he heard the door hiss open and Jesse walked in. they both remained silent as Jesse leaned against the wall with his arms folded.

'So, are you gonna tell me what this serum was?'

Adam sighed and rubbed his temples, 'It was a substance designed to contain powers, if an experiment was a failure, then we'd take their powers away…'

'Throw out the runt and get a new guinea pig?' Jesse finished with a scowl on his face.

'Well… I wouldn't have put that way myself, but yes,' he began typing again.

'Why would Ashlocke want something that could take his powers away?'

Adam turned to him 'That's what I'm trying to find out,'

Jesse was about to ask another question, but was off by a low whirring sound.

'What the hell…' he walked out of the lab to follow the noise. He saw Phoebe standing outside Lexa's room, gawking.

'What is it? Ashlocke?' Jesse slowed his running pace as he neared,

'No, worse! Lexa. Vacuuming.' She pointed into the room.

Jesse peered into the room and saw Lexa frantically pushing a vacuum cleaner around the floor.

'Lexa, what are you doing?'

She looked up and beamed, 'Oh! I couldn't relax so I thought I would some cleaning! You know me, any excuse of pick up a duster!' she gave them another grin before returning to cleaning.

'We do know you, and that couldn't be farther from the truth,' Phoebe commented. Lexa turned off the vacuum cleaner and turned to them, 'You know, when was the last time we had a home cooked meal in this place? We need something other than junk food, especially with a baby on the way!' she squealed excitedly and left the room, touching Phoebe's stomach on the way out.

Jesse stood with a shocked look on his face, 'Anyone think that Ashlocke did something to her?'

'Possible, although I don't see how turning her into _that_ is going to help him!' Phoebe exclaimed. Brennan walked in with his hands in the back pockets of his jeans and with a confused expression.

'Was that Lexa back there?' he said, pointing in the direction he had come from.

'Yes,' Adam replied, Brennan looked even more confused, 'Don't ask,'

'Well, maybe she just wanted to tidy her room,' Jesse piped up; wanting to find a rational explanation for the fellow molecular's behaviour.

'I don't think so Jess, she asked me if I wanted steak or lamb chops tonight! Lexa can't and won't cook!' Brennan said.

'Okay, you guys try to find out if Lexa's been taking Prozac or something, but Brennan and I have a doctors appointment,' Phoebe broke the news carefully.

'What! But what about the serum that Ashlocke has! You're,' she cut Jesse off

'Jess, I feel as if my ankles are about to explode, I can't sleep, and I'm tired all the time, if you don't let me go then you're gonna have one pissy mama on your hands!' The men gave her a blank look, knowing that Jesse shouldn't have challenged the hormonal witch.

'Okay, go, but be careful!' he shouted as Brennan helped Phoebe walk down to the garage.

* * *

'How long before the potion takes effect?'

'Well, it should start to change her personality, then her morality,'

Gabriel put his hands together and put his elbows on the table and stared at the serum in front of him, he was well aware of its powers and had decided to be wary of it, since he wouldn't want to lose his powers after getting a second chance from the evil Charmed Ones.

'So we should be expecting her to bring the pregnant one to us soon?'

'Yes, can I ask sir? Why are you wanting the with child witch here? She poses the biggest threat as she's a Charmed One and carrying the first pure witch baby in centuries,'

'Because…' he lent back in his chair, 'She's gonna be my queen,'

* * *

'Okay, this gel's going to feel a bit cold,' the doctor said as he squirted some gel onto Phoebe's stomach. Phoebe and Brennan exchanged a worried look, Connor, they had decided his name, had been shocking anyone who touched Phoebe's stomach, the only people who he left alone were the members of Mutant X. She sent a telepathic message to the baby inside of her _If you don't shock the doctor man, I won't eat onion cookies for a week_. She smiled when she got a kick in response and looked at the screen as the doctor moved the ultrasound probe around her stomach.

'There's the head… and his legs… Hmm? That's strange,'

'What? What is it?' Brennan asked, now extremely concerned.

The doctor turned around and smiled, 'Don't worry, it's not your baby, it's just the machine, I think it's broken, either that or there's too much static electricity in her womb!' he laughed and turned back to the hazy screen, 'Hmm… well, we can't see the baby if the screen isn't working, but from your blood results, I'd say he's completely healthy!'

Phoebe and Brennan knew that Connor had been responsible for the interference of the ultrasound, they both looked at Phoebe's stomach as they came out of the clinic.

'Well, I guess he's camera shy,' Brennan said

Phoebe looked at her stomach, 'You're grounded,'

* * *

Jesse had been watching Lexa in the kitchen for the past two hours, she had been cooking a feast ever since the others had left, and she had smiled all the way through. She had changed her clothes, instead of the tight black clothes she wore, she was wearing a light yellow dress that was just above her knees, Jesse didn't even think she owned colourful clothing! The hummed a tune as she seasoned some exotic dish, it was at this point that Jesse realised that this wasn't the Lexa he knew and… liked?

'Do you know when Phoebe and Brennan will be back?' she asked with an eerie smile.

'Erm… they should be back any minute, you know, Brennan called you uptight earlier,' Jesse lied, trying to get through to the real Lexa.

'Hmm…' was her response

'And Phoebe was complaining about your fighting skills,' Jesse moved closer to her.

'Really?' she replied, finally! She was turning back, 'I'm just going to have to make her a basket of muffins!'

Jesse's head dropped at that, he had went through every magical resource that Phoebe had brought with her when she had come to Sanctuary, and he still couldn't find anything that could help! He had tried showing her pictures of Leo, pictures of the team together, nothing was getting through.

'We're home!' Phoebe's voice came from the main area. Jesse walked out to find Brennan taking Phoebe's coat from her, he smiled, it had been only a year ago that Brennan had been a real ladies man, now he was a father to be and someone's fiancé!

'Hey, how was the doctor?'

'Electrifying. How's Lexa?' she dismissed his question

'Uh… worse, she hasn't stopped smiling since you left! You got any suggestions?'

'Well, I saw her get hit with a potion when she fought Ashlocke, that probably has something to do with it, I'll go see if I can get through to her with my powers,' she waddled over towards the kitchen.

Jesse caught the glint of happiness in Brennan's eyes as he watched Phoebe walk off.

'She really has changed you,'

Brennan came out of his daze, 'What?'

'Phoebe. She's changed you, all of us actually, for the better!'

'Of course she's changed me! I'm a father and husband to be!'

Jesse laughed, 'You nervous?'

Brennan smiled weakly, 'I'm a wreck, but I wouldn't change anything,'

'Really?'

'Yeah! I mean, this year has been a roller coaster, but we wouldn't be standing here right now if it weren't for her,'

'Yeah… and it's not just this year, Emma dying, Shal leaving… it's been a journey,' Brennan nodded solemnly, 'Listen Bren, about a best man…'

Brennan laughed, 'Like you even need to ask!'

Both of them laughed, it had been a while since they had talked like this. Phoebe came back into the room and groaned, putting her hands on her cheeks and stretching her face.

'Okay, magic is definitely at play, I've tried everything! Empathy, telepathy, telempathy, psionic blasts… someone's locked up her head tight!'

Lexa suddenly came through waving a wooden spoon, 'Dinner's ready!'

* * *

What! What do you mean the potion won't work!' Gabriel slammed his fists down, causing the mutant to shake.

'I'm sorry! It's seems that the potion doesn't spread as far as morality without the persons blood!'

'Damn it!' he paced the room, the mutant was shaking violently, afraid of what Gabriel was going to do next. He suddenly released an energy blast, instantly killing the mutant and making himself feel a lot better

* * *

Dinner had been a mostly quiet affair, Lexa was still acting weird and was getting worse by the minute, she stood up from the table and took the plates away, and going into the kitchen to prepare dessert. Jesse had had enough of her behaviour and he realised the only way to fix her would be to shock her back to her old self.

'Lexa, we need to talk,' he followed her into the kitchen.

'Oh! Don't tell me you're allergic to dessert!' she whined.

He stared at her blankly, when shook his head, 'No, this is about how you're acting,'

'I'm doing what a woman is supposed to do,' she began clattering the plates,

'Lexa, this isn't the you that I like! This isn't the you that I'm in love with!' she kept clattering dishes. Jesse took a deep breath; he would have to go to his last resort. He walked towards her and turned her to him forcefully, but gently. He kissed her passionately, holding the sides of her head while she just stood there, completely bewildered by what was happening. Even after she glowed purple, indicating that the magic had left her, she began to return the kiss by jumped up and wrapping her legs around his waist while her hands roamed through his sandy blonde hair.

Phoebe felt her empathy kick in, and was hit by one of the most powerful waves of love she ever felt, she smiled as she realised what had happened.

* * *

Sorry that this was a bit shorter than usual, but I thought I would do some Sanctuary sappiness lol!

Chapter 28 ' Crash Course' will be up soon!

I have some recommendations for stories if anyone is interested; they have my seal of approval so that means there are of very high standard lol!

Destiny (and prequel)by Pyrena

Children of Light (and prequels) by Princess Pinky

Simply Charmed by wyatt333

ANNOUNCEMENT: I now have pictures of the following people, Aidan, Pamela, Brennan's three sisters and Connor and Faith from Phoebe's vision, if you want them, just put a request in your review and I'll send them to you! And if you can guess this question correctly, I will send you profiles of FUTURE CHARACTERS!

What is Aidan's last name?

The answer is here somewhere! Find it and I'll send you the profiles!


	28. Crash Course

Hey hey, It was late when I did my responses and I was lazy and tired lol and I was so torn up about losing my '2004' (sobs dramatically) but I hope these will make up for it!

Princess Pinky – LOL! I thought you'd like it! Jesse and Lexa are great together! I don't think Emma was right for him! Can you imagine Lexa walking about with a big smile plastered on her face constantly? LMAO!

Pyrena – I'm glad you liked it! I did the ultrasound part to show that Connor's going to be a mischievous little witch! 

PiPeRAnGeL39 – Hey! Long time no see! Are you here to stay? I sent you the pictures. Did you get them?

Wyatt333 – You're going to like this chapter, I enjoyed writing it! I got the inspiration from one of my favourite Mutant X episodes 'No Man Left Behind' and you never know what Ashlocke is planning, but you can be as sure as hell that Brennan won't give up Phoebe without a fight!

PS: Borneo demons are the ones that attacked Paige at the start of season 5, when she orbs into Piper's bedroom in 'A Witch's Tail'

ANNOUNCEMENT: If any of you didn't get the pics, please tell me so I can send them again! My computer hates me!

ANNOUNCEMENT 2: Piper and Phoebe now have six powers, so I was thinking; if you have any power advancement ideas for Paige, Pamela, Aidan or any other character, please let me know!

**Crash Course**

The Helix made a whirring sound as it circled the misty area of sea for a third time. All four of them had been sent out to try and find a plane that just mysteriously disappeared; apparently it had been carrying a powerful government weapon, which, if it were in the wrong hands, would be the thing that started a war.

Phoebe had come along, they needed her sensitive ability for picking up thoughts and emotions if they were going to try and find the plane, if the pilot was still alive, she would find him.

'You guys, I think that fog down there is magical, I'm getting a weird feeling about it,' Phoebe looked out the window, getting a feeling of foreboding about this place.

'Okay, drop a little lower then come back,' Adam's voice came from the intercom system, he was back at Sanctuary.

Phoebe looked between Lexa and Jesse, who had been avoiding each other ever since they had kissed. It was starting to annoy the pregnant psionic, as she was feeling the tension between them, but also the love. Her thoughts were interrupted by the Hellix beginning to shake violently; she immediately grabbed the armrests in shock.

'Jess! What's going on?' Brennan shouted over the alarms.

'Uh… I don't know,' Jesse began hitting buttons on the controls, 'Something's just shut everything down! It's taken out the system!' he was right! All the controls had shut down; it was as if the Helix was gliding towards the fog.

'Adam!' Lexa shouted into her comring, but she got no answer.

Phoebe pulled one of the screens towards her, 'one thousand feet! Whatever is in the fog, we're about to find out!' she said, scared to death.

'Alright, buckle up you guys,' Brennan quickly pulled the belt over his chest, the others followed suit, Phoebe however, was having trouble due to her enlarged stomach.

'Dammit! Why didn't Adam design this thing with pregnant people in mind!' she thought aloud. Looking out the front window, she saw that it was too late to use her hidden powers to help the Helix; all she could do was hold the belt in place and hope for the best.

* * *

'Phoebe, c'mon baby, wake up,' Brennan's voice reached her ears, but was slightly tuned out by the ringing. Phoebe opened her eyes and saw that her head was bleeding; Lexa and Jesse were using fire extinguishers to get rid of the flames caused by the crash.

'Ugh… What happened?'

'Well, we had quite a smooth crash landing, and the rest you can around you,' he took a wet piece of cloth to the wound, she winced at the sensation.

Lexa walked over the knelt down beside her, 'Bren, you go with Jess and check out the place, I'll stay here and try of salvage this hunka junk,' Brennan looked at her hesitantly for a minute, before standing and walking down the ramp to meet Jesse and explore.

* * *

Lexa decided to just blast off the panel on the control board, once it had flew off, she had a look at the wires before attempting to touch them, but they sparked on contact and Lexa cursed loudly. She threw down the flashlight in defeat, her technical skills only went so far and they were hardly enough to repair something as complicated as the Helix.

She walked out of the grounded jet and looked around their surroundings, Lexa could hear birds chirping, grasshoppers chirping, it would have been perfect if the air weren't so humid. They had crashed in a valley, Lexa could only see green wherever her eyes went, the entire place was covered in trees! She wouldn't be surprised if the guys had got lost. She mopped her brow and saw Phoebe sitting on a rock next to a river; she thought it would be perfect for her to splash her face with cold water, as the heat of this place was so clammy.

'Hey, I can't do much with the Helix, so…' she stopped when she saw Phoebe crying freely, 'Pheebs? What's wrong?'

Phoebe looked at her with tear-stained eyes and whimpered, 'Lexa…' she scrunched up her eyes and began to weep again. Lexa moved closer,

'What's wrong?'

Phoebe opened her eyes and put her hands on her stomach, Lexa didn't understand at first, but as the horrible reality of the situation dawned on her, her eyes began to fill up,

'Oh my God…'

* * *

'Jess, we've already passed that plant already!'

'How can you tell? They all look the same!'

Brennan and Jesse had been arguing for the past hour about how to get back to the Helix, they had wandered around aimlessly since they had left base camp and had been bombarded with swinging branches, mosquito's, stinging plants, anything that nature could throw at them, it did.

The good thing was that even though they were stranded, their powers seemed to be stronger here, but for some reason, they couldn't contact Adam or call for Andy.

'Alright, we need to stop and get our bearings, we can't just wonder around,' Jesse stopped walking.

'Well, what do you suggest? I make a forest fire and attract attention?' electricity sparked in his hands as he joked.

Jesse was about answer when he noticed something over Brennan's shoulder, 'No…' he walked past the elemental, 'I say we follow that light,' he pointed to something, Brennan turned around to see that a small but powerful light was coming towards them. Fast.

'What is it?'

Jesse laughed, 'It's Lexa,' the small light began to dance around their heads, 'C'mon, let's go!' the light began to move the way it come from, with Brennan and Jesse close behind.

After another hour of walking, the forest began to thin out as they saw wisps of smoke in the air, probably from the Helix. They surveyed the scene around them, Lexa and Phoebe were holding on to each other my dear life, Phoebe was sobbing uncontrollably and Lexa let the odd tear fall from her eyes now and again. She was the first to notice the guys; she stood up the quickly snuffed the light that began to dance around her once it had returned to its original spot.

'I didn't know you could do that,' Jesse said

Lexa sniffed, 'I can't… Phoebe told me a spell… You guys, something terrible has happened,'

'What is it?' Brennan asked, now wanting to know why his fiancé was crying, Jesse put a hand on Lexa's arm to comfort her,

'The crash… it did more…' she sighed, 'More damage than we thought…'

'What is that supposed to mean?' Brennan urged

Lexa looked up with glassy eyes, 'Phoebe had a miscarriage Brennan… She lost the baby,'

* * *

Brennan and Phoebe stood in each other's arms, Phoebe sobbing even harder while Brennan let an occasional tear fall silently. Jesse and Lexa just watched the grieving parents; their hearts were also filled with devastation.

'Ugh… Man, I can't even imagine what they're going through,' Jesse looked down at the ground.

'I can't believe this, I thought miscarriages only happen in the first five months?' Lexa asked desperately, both sat in silence and watched the two witches console each other. Phoebe stopped crying and moved away from Brennan, she had a distant look on her face.

'What is it?' Brennan asked.

'Life… Lots of it… Coming,'

'When?'

'…Now,'

As soon as the words had left her mouth, the trees began rustling and around ten people came out of the foliage. They were all men and were wearing some sort of tribal masks.

'Borneo demons…' Brennan whispered, he knew just as much about demons as Phoebe did.

Lexa and Jesse began to fire thermal blasts and lasers at the word 'demon' but all of them smoked out of the way and two reappeared behind each witch, holding their arms back. The other two, probably the leaders, smoked back in and said something in an unknown language, the others nodded and the leaders smoked out. As the others began to smoke out with Mutant X, Lexa flashed out of their grasp just in time and wasn't kidnapped, her friends however, were not so lucky.

* * *

Phoebe awoke with a start, from what she could tell, she was in a cave, as the only source of light was a fire and the rest of the place was dim. She sat up, not knowing what to expect. Suddenly, a wind blew out the torch on the wall and it was pitch black. Phoebe made a psionic blast materialize in front of her, in an attempt to illuminate her surroundings, and looked around, this looked familiar some how. There were patterned clothes hung up on the wall, with some wood in the middle and there was a pot of steaming water over them. She noticed something glinting from the corner of her eye and turned around, gasping when she saw a coyote.

'It's you…'

The coyote's eyes glinted again before turning into a man. The same man that she had met a year ago! The one that had stolen her car engine and guided her towards Mutant X! He hadn't changed at all, his hair was still in dreadlocks, his eyes still sparkled with youth, and he was still heavily clothed.

'We meet again…' he said, walking past her and to sit beside the wood, he made a gesture at it and flames danced, licking the bottom of the pot with flames.

'Where are my friends?' she asked, remembering that the others had been taken as well.

The old man merely laughed, 'You were right to mistrust my people, but the ones who attacked you aren't demons, and extinguish that mental energy floating in front of you, it's distracting,'

Phoebe looked up, seeing that her psi-blast was still active, she shut it down with her mind and turned her attention back to the man, 'You're friends are fine, although I'm surprised you thought of them, since your grief over your loss is clouding your judgement,' he stirred the water with a wooden stick.

'Look, don't lay that 'wise one' crap on me again!' she shouted, 'I have just lost my son, the son I saw in my future, so of course my judgement's clouded! I don't even know if I'm going to see my little girl Faith any more!'

'Every road must,'

'No!' she created a glowing light in front of her head, 'Either you're going to answer all my questions, or I'll make you, either way I'm leaving with more knowledge than I came with,'

The old man looked genuinely surprised by her anger, but he remained calm and went back to stirring the water.

'What do you want to know?'

Phoebe was surprised that he gave in so quickly, 'What are you?'

He sighed, 'A shaman, we guide those who are lost with our abilities of foresight and contacting the dead,'

'What is this place?'

'A cave on the island, this is where I gave you your vision a year ago, you didn't know it,'

'What happened to the plane that crashed around here?'

'Fell into the ocean, I needed you to be here so,'

'You killed the pilot!'

'His fate is regrettable, but I,'

'And you lured us here? So that means that you're responsible for the crash AND for my miscarriage!' a black globe of mental energy appeared in front of her, 'Give one reason why I shouldn't fire this and turn your mind into a pile of ash!'

'Because I'm the only one who can help you get your son and the pilot back,' he said simply.

She lowered her attack, 'How? They're… dead,' she bowed her head

'But their spirits haven't moved on, you can save them!' he urged, 'Just take my hands! We don't have much time! Even less now since you wasted our time with your questions!' he hissed.

Phoebe didn't need to be told twice, even if he was lying, she couldn't give up a possible chance of saving her son.

* * *

Jesse groaned as he came to, he could feel the dull heat of the stone floor underneath him, he slowly opened his eyes to see that he was in some sort of jail cell, the demons that had captured them were on the other side of the bars, talking in an unknown language.

He sat up silently, trying not to attract attention, he but his back on the wall and noticed that Brennan was lying on the other side of the room. Instead of shouting to him, Jesse decided to throw a loose stone, it would attract less attention.

Brennan's eyes strained open, he was about to say something when Jesse widened his eyes, signalling for him to stay quiet.

'What are we going to do?' Brennan mouthed to his friend

Jesse was about to mouth back, when screams of pain could be heard in the other room. The door flew off its hinges, revealing Lexa, hands out, lasers at the ready. The two Borneo demons ran at her, but were instantly vanquished by two beams of searing light.

'I hope you guys are grateful, do you know how hard it was to find this place?' She ran over the cell, but was blasted back by a shield.

'I think that would make it too easy Lex,' Jesse commented.

She got back up and blew a strand of hair from her face; 'Okay, stand back,' the two did so, as they knew what was coming. She released two blinding shots at the cell, the bars melting instantly and the shield decimated, 'Where's Phoebe?' she asked

'What? She isn't with you?' Brennan said with a raised voice

'Uh… No!' she replied sarcastically, 'Remember? The demons?' she pointed to the piles of ash with a patronising look on her face.

'Well where the hell is she?' Brennan shouted back

'Hey!' Jesse came between the two, 'Let's just try and find her!' he turned to Lexa, 'Alright, how did you find us?'

'I don't know, I wanted to find you and bam! I knew where you were!'

'Maybe your flashing power is advancing, you can sense people,'

'Anything's possible. Wow… my powers sure have advanced a lot lately, 'she looked into space.

'Okay, can you find her now?' Brennan asked

Lexa closed her eyes in concentration, 'I know where she is,'

'Alright! Flash us to her!'

'Wait! I ran here! I've never flashed over that type of distance before!'

'Well, it's time to get some practice in!'

Lexa hesitated for a minute, and then answered, 'Alright,' she linked arms with Brennan, but she took Jesse's hand, which surprised him. He looked at her, she just gave him a smile and he squeezed her hand gently as they flashed out.

* * *

Phoebe sat in a trance like state; she was currently in the realm between life and death. The shaman smirked as an athame glowed into his hand, he got up and walked across to her, ready to plunge the dagger into her heart, when the cave filled with light and Mutant X appeared.

'Damn…' he shimmered out before Brennan, Jesse or Lexa could fire their respective attacks.

They knelt down next to Phoebe, trying to wake her up, but the last thing she wanted to do was to wake up.

* * *

_'C'mon baby! It's Mommy! Where are you?' she called into the darkness, desperately looking for her child's spirit. In the darkness, a small light began to flash in the distance, Phoebe began running towards it, and was surprised when she saw a man, dressed in military clothes, holding a baby._

_'He yours?' the man asked_

_'Yes, are you a pilot?' Phoebe asked_

_'Yeah, I was about to move on, when this little guy appeared, I don't know why, but I knew someone would come for him,'_

_The pilot handed over Connor to Phoebe, then made a gesture with his hand, a large light appeared, it was a vortex, 'You should be able to get back through that,' he pointed._

_'What about you?'_

_'Me?' he laughed, 'I think it's time for me to go,'_

_'Thank you…' Phoebe whispered_

_The pilot smiled and left in a glow of light. Phoebe turned back to the portal and walked through it, returning both her son and herself to life.

* * *

_

Phoebe lay in bed with the light on; she was telepathically channelling a storybook to the baby, who had kicked nine times since the team had returned from the island. After Phoebe had returned from the 'in between' realm, Lexa had flashed them back to the Helix and she and Jesse had finished the repairs, Phoebe had known that they had did a lot more than just repair the Helix, but she didn't bring it up.

Brennan clambered into the bed and moved closer to Phoebe, putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her into a tight grasp.

'How's the baby?'

'Alive and kicking,' she groaned and touched her stomach, the baby had just kicked, 'Believe me,'

Brennan laughed and looked down at the story book, it was called 'A Collection Of Fairy Tales', 'That was pretty scary today, huh?'

Phoebe looked at him; 'I never want anything like that to happen again, which is why I'm finally going to accept my role as a backseat Mutant X member,'

Brennan raised his eyebrows, 'Really?'

'Yeah… We lost our son today Brennan, we may have got him back, but he was dead… both he and I will be safer here,'

'What do you think the deal with the shaman was?'

'I don't know... But that's tommorow's problem,' she said, stealing one of her big sister's sayings

He pulled her even closer and kissed her head, 'I'm not going to let anything happen to you, okay?'

She smiled, 'I know,' she turned back to the book

'Hey, how about opening up a three way connection? I'd like to hear you read to our boy! And I'm also a little curious about what goes through a baby's mind!'

She grinned; 'Sure,' she opened up her telepathy to another link and began reading.

* * *

Aww… more Sanctuary sappiness lol! I hope you liked it!

Chapter 29 'Patty, Anyone?' will be up soon!

BTW: I would really like your opinions on the pictures and bios!


	29. Patty, Anyone?

Pyrena – Yeah, I thought the miscarriage would be quite an original thing to do, but this chapter's a bit lighter! I just can't help myself when it comes to Sanctuary Sappiness lol!  


Triquetraperson – Thanks! You should see Mutant X! It's great! And I'm sorry that I haven't sent you the pictures! The second part of your e-mail didn't show up in the review, so could you please tell what it is? E.g. hotmail, AOL, yahoo… etc. 

PiPeRAnGeL39 – OMG! You have to be the only person that has kept the numbers in their name! Anyway, lol, I'm glad you liked Aidan, although I'm going to be evil very soon… hehehehe…

Prince Halliwell – Lovin the new name! And that's a lot of powers! I might use molecular acceleration for Chris and psychokinesis for Emma, the others I need to think about. Well, it will end with a big fight, but I won't say anything else, and I've planned an amazing subplot for Phoebe in 'United As Three' she may not be a Goddess after all ;) and the next P P chapter is the next chapter!

Piperfairy – Hmm… the shaman's role isn't finished yet, and I'm glad you liked it!

Princess Pinky – (breathes sigh of relief) I'm glad you were just busy and not bored with this story! And I'll try not to update on Sundays lol! And the shaman isn't done yet, but don't judge him just yet… ;)

**Patty, Anyone?**

'Are you sure this is a good idea?'

'Why wouldn't it be?'

'Well, my mother, your father, and the fact that the Warren and Stewart lines have hated each other since the beginning of time!'

'Yeah, but my Dad's a mortal, he won't care,' Brennan reassured her, 'Look, we know a lot about kids, but we know nothing about parents, so I think we need to do this,'

Phoebe and Brennan had been lightly arguing for the ten minutes about their parenting skills. They had decided to summon their dead parents to help them through this, but Brennan had mentioned a little factor about how the Warren's and Fraser's had been enemies. He said that he had been raised on that story, and it was the main reason he knew about the Charmed Ones.

'I know… but…,' she looked at him, 'Forget it… I'm just dreading Connor's double Wiccaning,' she warned, knowing how Grams was a strong believer in tradition, and from what she heard about Brennan's grandfather, he was exactly the same.

'Look, you said that your Mom's pretty easy going, and my Dad knows nothing about magic, so we'll be fine!'

Phoebe sighed them held out the spell, they began to read,

'Hear these words,

Hear our cry,

Spirits from the other side,

Come to us, we summon thee,

Cross now the great divide,'

Swirling white lights began to spin quickly in two spots, the lights grew more rapid then there was a bright flash. Phoebe lent over to Brennan, 'Have you ever summoned your Dad before?'

His eyes had a hopeful glint, 'Nope,'

The flash disappeared and two ghostly figures stood in the centre of the candle circle, one was Patty Halliwell, and the other was a man, he looked a lot like Brennan but was a bit older and he looked truly shocked to be there.

'Hey Mom,' Phoebe said, as if she did this every day.

'… Dad?' Brennan wheezed out

The transparent man looked at his body, still with a stunned expression on his face. He looked over to Brennan, trying to figure out who it was, then he realised, 'Brennan?'

Phoebe and Patty were already hugging now that she had left the circle of candles; Patty smiled at Phoebe's stomach before turning to Brennan's Dad.

'Um… Mr Mulwray, is it? All you need to do is step out of the circle to become corporeal,' she instructed. He eyed her suspiciously, not knowing what was going on, but when he saw the look on his son's face, he she 't lying and he carefully tread across the border, making his skin glow and his body matter.

Brennan just stood and stared at his Dad, before finally coming to his senses and walking towards him. At first, Phoebe thought that he was just going to shake his hand, but Brennan suddenly lunged at his father, hugging him and patting him on the back, this was soon returned by his father, how had come to his senses as well.

As Brennan and his father talked more, Phoebe and Patty began to talk,

'So, what brings me down here, honey?' Patty said with a smile

'A desperate call for help!' Phoebe answered, 'I don't have any idea how to a Mom!'

'That's ridiculous! You've looked after Wyatt and Chris plenty of times! You know how to look after a child!'

'Yeah, I know… It's just not the same,' she bowed her head.

'Why?'

'Are you kidding me? You know that Brennan's family's powers come from the elements! Not every mother needs to worry about their kid making a lightning storm every time he's pissed off!' Phoebe exclaimed.

Patty gave her daughter a sympathetic look. 'Honey, I'm going to help you through this, you're not alone! Especially with him by your side,' she glanced at Brennan, Phoebe looked over her shoulder and smiled at her fiancé,

'He really is great…' she whispered, watching him talk to his father, 'C'mon,' she grabbed her mother's hands, 'Come and meet my other friends,'

* * *

Brennan and Connor had now sat down in the rec room, and were discussing the past,

'How much do you remember of the day I died?' Connor asked

Brennan sighed and shook his head, 'Everything…'

* * *

'_Brennan! Help Sandy!' a thirteen year old Nelle shouted over the din of the destruction surrounding her. Eleven year old Brennan quickly got up off the ground, where he had been after dodging an energy ball, he ran to his seven year old baby sister, who was trying to fend off attacking demons with feeble gusts of wind flying from her hands. The demons grinned, knowing that her powers were weak because of her age, but their smiles vanished when Brennan jumped forward and blasted them with a series of lightning bolts, vanquishing them. He knelt down in front of Sandy,_

'_C'mon Sandy! Piggyback ride!' he said enthusiastically, knowing he had to keep up appearances in front of Sandy._

'_Bren! Where did all the monsters come from?' she asked as she clambered onto his back._

'_The head monster…' he growled, seeing his fifteen-year-old brother grinning from across the river._

_Lightning fell from the sky, vanquishing many of the demons; Brennan smiled, knowing that his mother had put her power into full swing to save her home._

'_Dad!' he shouted, noticing his father across the field, trying to help the injured children. He was about to run towards him, when he heard a shriek and turned around to see a nine-year-old Ally being cornered by more demons. Brennan looked between his father and his sister; he let Sandy off his back and looked at her,_

'_Okay Sandy, I want you to stay right here and hide until I come back, okay?' Sandy nodded frightfully and watched her big brother run off to save her sister._

_Brennan gritted his teeth, him and Nelle were the only two that were strong enough to vanquish a demon, Ally and Sandy could only repel them for short amounts of time while his mother kept back and made sure her storm didn't hurt anyone other than demons._

_Ally released a trickle of water from her hands, when she saw it wasn't enough, she burst into tears as the demons advanced on her, but stopped when Brennan fired powerful electrical arcs from his hands, well, the most powerful an eleven year old could muster._

_After the demons were gone, he took Ally's hand but was interrupted by a piercing scream,_

'_DADDY!' Sandy screamed, noticing that her father was just across the field, she ran out from her hiding place from behind the boulder and sprinted towards her father. The demons had also heard this, and after seeing Sandy, they released energy ball after energy ball at Sandy, all of them missed, except from one, that was going straight at her!_

'_Sandy! NO!' Connor Mulwray screamed as he ran across to his daughter, just in time to grab her and hold her close to his chest, as the energy ball hit his back. Connor sank to his knees, placing Sandy on the ground, before collapsing from his wound. Nelle had seen everything along with Brennan and together; the two enraged teens took out all the demons with a series of fissures and tesla coils._

_The two ran towards their downed father, was now bleeding badly and dying; Nelle skidded to the ground as she reached him, taking his hand as she began to cry. Brennan knelt down on his other side, keeping Sandy behind him; she shouldn't see her father like this._

'_Nelle… Sweetie…' he stroked her cheek, 'I love you,' Nelle scrunched up her eyes in grief,_

_He turned his head painfully to his son, 'Brennan… I'm so… proud of you…' he whispered, Brennan's eyes began to fill up_

_Ally walked over slowly to her dying father, who noticed her and ushered her to come closer with Sandy, 'Sandra… Allison… my two… little… girls… I love you…' he breathed, before letting his head fall limp._

_Brennan and Nelle ushered their siblings away from their father's body, Brennan looked towards and teenager across the river, who was laughing manically and smiling. He looked at his brother with a hateful glare._

'_I'm gonna kill him… I'M GONNA KILL HIM!' he screamed as he picked up Sandy and ran, along with an equally angry Nelle who had Ally in her arms. The four siblings ran off to meet their mother, and to put an end to Ryan._

'_Well, if it isn't the Mulwray children,' Ryan smirked_

'_You're one of us, you idiot!' Sandy squealed from Brennan's hand_

_Ryan glared at her, shooting a stream of fire right at his youngest sister, electricity sparked in Brennan's hand, ready to attack and stop the fire, but at was hit by a torrent of water and fizzled out. Ally stood, hands outstretched and eyes and eyes full of hate._

'_How could you kill Dad!' she shouted at him, her eyes red from crying_

'_Dad's dead?' for a second he looked devastated, but returned to his grin, 'Good, that's what he gets for being mortal!' he played with fire in his hand._

'_Ryan!' Nelle stepped forward, being the oldest of the remaining siblings, thought that she should take charge, 'It's not too late! You can still come back!' she pleaded, all this time, playing with a potion behind her back._

'_That's the problem with you, Nelle,' he as he looked at the flames in his palm, 'You're only thirteen, yet you've got the wisdom of an adult… I'm gonna miss that!' he smirked, releasing more fire at his sister, who raised her own hand and made a plateau of ground rise up and shield her and her siblings from the fire._

_She lowered her hands and the stone fell with them, she looked her brother straight in the eye with a steely gaze,_

'_You may be able to scare them,' she nodded to Sandy and Ally, 'But you've never had the power to take on Brennan and I at the same time and come out unscathed, let alone victorious!' she taunted him._

_Brennan turned to his little sisters as Nelle kept their brother busy with a war of words, 'You guys, I want you to go and find Mom, can you do that for me?' they nodded stiffly, 'Alright, go…' the two ran off towards the house._

'_Never had the power?' he laughed, 'Maybe not before…' he took a vial out of his pocket and drank and contents, before throwing it to the ground, 'But definitely now!' his arm shot out, and a massive plume of fire, larger than any he had ever created, flew from his hand and shocked both children into action._

_Nelle reacted immediately, she rolled out of the way and placed her hands firmly on the ground, they began to glow as tree roots shot from the ground and constricted Ryan tightly._

'_Brennan! Take this!' she threw a potion at him, 'Quickly! I can't hold him for long!'_

_He did as he was told and threw the potion, but was shocked when Ryan suddenly rocketed from his wooden prison, smoke billowing from his hands as he circled the area from the sky._

_Nelle gritted her teeth, 'When did he receive his propulsion power!' she exclaimed, 'Bren! It's all you! My power are useless if he's in the air!'_

'_Got it!' he spiralled his hands, voltage crackling in the middle of the circle he had made with his hands. He threw the electrical arc in his left hand first, narrowly missing, the second however, hit its mark and Ryan came plummeting to the ground._

'_Brennan! Nelle! Stand back!' Julie Mulwray's voice came from behind; she had her two youngest daughters next to her. She threw a potion at her unconscious son and his spirit rose up from his body._

'_Alright, now!' she shouted,_

_The four siblings began to chant the spell that they had memorised ever since this plan had been formed. Nelle, Brennan, Ally and Sandy recited the curse and two portals began to open._

'_Outside of time, outside of gain,_

_Know only sorrow, Know only pain!'_

_One portal absorbed the body that lying on the ground, while the other devoured Ryan's spirit, which was resisting. Brennan, wanting to see his brother gone, charged up two powerful electrical arcs and fired them at the writhing soul on the brink of imprisonment. Ryan's essence began to scream in pain as the vortex finally took its prey._

_The remaining Mulwrays slowly walked over to the corpse of their dead father, Julie finally broke down and dropped to the ground, weeping softly as she clutched her husband's hand.

* * *

_

'Wow, you really do remember everything,' Connor said, after hearing Brennan recite the events of the day.

'Yeah, we lost two family members that day…' Brennan bowed his head.

'But from I see from 'up there',' he looked upwards, 'You've done a good job of looking after the family for me, better than I ever could,'

'What? Just because you didn't have powers? Dad, you looked after us just fine! Who knew exactly what to do when Ally broke her ankle when she was seven? Who saved Nelle from an angry bear in the forest when she was nine? Who was there to read Sandy a bedtime story whenever he was home? And who taught me how to ride a horse? Huh? It may not have been 'magical protection' but you were definitely there for us!'

Connor smiled, 'You don't know how much that means to me, to know that I was such an important part of your life,'

Brennan, 'You're my Dad! You're the reason I have a life!' both laughed at this crude joke, until a crash was heard from the lab.

'Brennan!' Phoebe yelled, father and son were now on their feet, rushing to the place where the noise had been heard. The door hissed open and Adam could be seen lying in the wreckage of a desk while Phoebe and Patty stood together, facing a demon! He had black skin and was baring grey teeth that stuck out from its pale face.

Phoebe turned her head away; charging up a psionic blast, she swiftly turned back to him, releasing the mental attack, but all the demon did was recoil slightly. The creature returned the favour by a throwing a fireball, which fizzled out after being met with the amazing defensive power of Connor's electrical shield, which had appeared from Phoebe's stomach moments before. The demon roared before disappearing into the floor and moving away into the walls.

The electrical field lowered, 'What the hell was that?' Phoebe asked, pointing at the floor.

'Andy!' Brennan looked to the ceiling to see orbs fly through the stone and form Andy.

'Really, I'm fine,' Adam said, wincing as he touched the gash on his head.

'Yeah right,' Phoebe said, 'You go flying into a glass desk and you're okay, do your stuff,' she said to Andy, who walked over to the genius and began to heal his wound as a burst of light sprung from his hands.

'What happened?' he asked, after the healing had finished

'Demon, what else?' Phoebe said sarcastically, rolling her eyes

'Really? A demon found you guys?'

'Yeah, and he was pretty strong, he hardly flinched when I hit him with a psi-blast,'

'Want me to go check with the Elders?'

'No,' Patty stepped in, 'He was powerful, which means he'll probably come back, so it's better if you stay here to heal the living,'

'The living?' Phoebe asked with raised eyebrows

'Well, Mr Mulwray and I are dead,' she pointed out, 'Just because we're corporeal it doesn't change that,'

'Good point,'

'Okay, I don't understand, since when was it up to Phoebe to fight the demons? Especially in her condition, where are Jesse and Lexa?' Andy asked, his whitelighter instincts kicking in.

'Um… They're… Uh… Sorting out some stuff,' Brennan patted Andy on the back, 'You don't wanna know, trust me,'

* * *

Lexa sat on a bench in front of the small pond in the park. She had just been staring at the water, trying to sort out all the buzzing thoughts that were sending her mind into overdrive.

'Mind if I join you?' a voice came from behind her. She turned around and smiled weakly,

'Sure,' she answered, letting Jesse sit down next to her. Both sat in silence, until Lexa finally found he courage to say something, 'I come here sometimes… to think…' she smiled, remembering something, 'Leo and I would come down here when we were little… I remember he fell in one time after trying to pet a duck,' she grinned, 'I was laughing… then he thought it would be funny to pull me in with him!' Jesse laughed along with her, imagining little Lexa taking a hissy fit when she came out of the pond, 'I didn't talk to him for a week!' she bowed her head, 'I guess that was just precious time wasted,'

Jesse tread carefully, this was a sensitive subject for Lexa, 'Do you ever regret your decision?'

'What? You mean killing Leo to save Brennan?'

* * *

_Lexa had to think quickly, Brennan was lying on the floor, hardly in a position to defend himself as her twin brother's alter ego, Troy advanced on him._

'_Oh, I'm gonna enjoy this…' he said as he was ready to finish Brennan off._

'_NO!' Lexa released two powerful beams of light at the man advancing on her teammate._

_Troy recoiled from the blast, and began to change back into Leo as he died.

* * *

_

'I don't know. I guess I've never really thought about it,'

Jesse put a protective arm around her shoulders, 'Lex, I'm not going anywhere, anytime soon. I think the main reason that you're like this is because you live for the future, not for today, and although that can be a good thing, you're missing out on all the good things around you,'

'Yeah, well… maybe you could help me with that…' she played with her hands, 'You know, the whole… living for the moment thing,'

He smiled and kissed her head, 'Well, saving the world would be a lot easier!' she hit him playfully, 'But I'll try…'

She looked up to him, her eyes full of uncertainty and hope as he leaned in and kissed her tenderly.

* * *

'Okay, next, add the troll hair,' Patty instructed her daughter as they made a potion.

'Isn't it the pixie dust that goes in next?' Phoebe asked, positive that her mother was wrong. Patty looked dazed for a minute, then answered,

'Oh, you're right!' she smiled at her innocent mistake and looked at her daughter, who noticed this gaze.

'What?'

'You really have changed from the young woman who desperately wanted an active power, haven't you?'

Phoebe let out a small laugh, 'Well, actually having an active power can change your outlook on the whole thing, not to mention battling demons for seven years, that can change you a bit!' she said with a smirk.

Patty smiled, 'It's more than that… you've got a glow,'

'Might have something to do with the fact that I'm pregnant?' she said cheekily.

Patty shook her head, 'No, it's something that only a mother can see…' she suddenly hugged her daughter, 'You've grown up so much,' she whispered.

Phoebe gulped and tears began to well up in her eyes, 'After Prue died… I had had to… I had to be there for Paige, not to mention Piper… And take on the role as the middle sister,'

'And even after all that… You managed to stay strong, and keep the family together,'

Phoebe smirked and narrowed her eyes, 'Was that your 'subtle' way of saying that I don't need any help being a mother?'

Patty laughed, 'Yes,' she tucked a piece of Phoebe's hair behind her ear in a motherly fashion, 'You're going to be a great mother… And having Brennan around will definitely help!'

'What do you think of him?'

'He's…' Patty hesitated, trying to find a way to describe Brennan, 'He's the guy for you,' she smiled; Phoebe beamed and pulled her into a hug.

'Hey, is that potion ready yet?' Brennan walked in, completely oblivious to the fact that he had ruined a moment.

'Uh… Just about, I'm putting in a little bit of everything, since we don't know what it is,'

'Well, Andy has a theory about what it is, c'mon,' Brennan began to walk, feeling uncomfortable around his future mother in law.

* * *

'A hitchhiker?' Phoebe repeated, still not believing what Andy had said,

'Hey, it's completely possible that something could have seen those two,' she gestured at Connor and Patty, 'Cross over and come along for the ride,'

'But how is it even possible to latch on to a passing spirit?'

'Well, the demon probably has a different form on another plain, a form that could latch on to spirits,'

'Okay, let's say your right… How do we get rid of it?' Brennan asked

'Easy,' Andy grinned, 'You just need to returned Patty and Connor to their rightful place, and the demon will go back,'

'We can't do that,' Phoebe began,

'Sweetie, I can't stay here…' Patty said, putting a hand on her daughter's hand.

Phoebe smiled, 'No, that's not what I mean, if we don't vanquish this thing, then it'll just latch on to the next summoned spirit and attack someone not as lucky as us,'

'She's right,' Adam said, 'Not many witches would have the power to fend off such a powerful… being,'

Phoebe nodded, 'And it was only because of Connor's help that I didn't hurt too,'

Brennan's Dad looked confused, 'Me? I didn't do anything,'

Brennan smiled and patted his father on the back, 'We're naming the baby after you,' Connor's eyes bulged, he was clearly surprised, 'What? You didn't think you wouldn't have anything to do with your grandson, did you?'

He was about to answer, when a mound grew from the floor, taking on the form of the demon. Brennan sprang into action, using his jet propulsion to fly at the demon and hit him down with an electrical arc.

'It's time to pick off this leech…' Phoebe growled, releasing a psionic blast from her forehead, and hitting the demon. Unfortunately, it didn't even seem to notice the attack on its mind and threw Brennan into the air.

'Mom! Freeze it!' Phoebe shouted, running over to the downed elemental. Patty made the gesture repeatedly, but nothing happened.

'He's stronger than last time!' Patty shouted as the demon advanced on her daughter. The demon conjured an energy ball, ready to fire, but was suddenly blasted in the back and into a wall by the combined power of a laser and freezing thermal blast.

Lexa and Jesse appeared from the garage entrance, fresh and ready to join the fight.

'Hurry! Maybe the combined force of your powers will be enough to finish him!' Andy yelled. Mutant X did as they were told, the demon began to get up and snarled at the team before Jesse hit it with a sub zero thermal blast, Lexa with two high powered lasers, and Brennan with powerful bolts of lightning. Phoebe came in and finished it off, sending a psionic blast straight at his head. He screamed from their combined effort and blew up, leaving a scorch mark on the wall.

Lexa smiled and pushed her hair out of her eyes, 'Who needs the Power Of Three when we're around?' Jesse, Brennan and Phoebe grinned and laughed, it had been along time since they had felt like a team.

* * *

Patty had just returned to the afterlife in a swirl of lights, Phoebe left Brennan and his Dad so they could say goodbye.

'From the way you handled yourself today, I think you're more than ready for fatherhood!' Connor smiled.

Brennan laughed, 'Well, I've heard that saving the world is easier, but I'll give it a shot!'

Both chuckled and looked at each other, Connor put out his hand, 'Remember, I'm just a spell away if you need me,'

Brennan shook his hand and nodded, before watching his father return to his ghostly form and vanish in a flash of light.

* * *

I just can't resist Sanctuary Sappiness lol! Hope you liked it!

NEXT TIME: Now living at the Manor, Pamela now has legal guardians in the form of Piper and Leo, but after a bust up at her school, she is expelled and is left with no place to continue her education. But enrolment into Magic School changes that and opens up a new chapter of adventure for the oldest of the next generation of Halliwells…

Chapter 30: 'The Teen, Mean, Demon Fighting Machine' will be up soon!


	30. The Teen, Mean, Demon Fighting Machine

Pyrena – Yeah I like the parents too! And Pamela and Phelicia together at Magic School… There's a recipe for disaster lol!

Prince Halliwell – (does happy dance) you're my 100th reviewer! As a prize you get a… hmm… Lolly! And I don't think Lexa and Jesse will be in the next fic, as Phoebe will return home in that… but the others will! And I'm looking forward to writing the subplot! Hint: it's something to do with her hidden powers.

Triquetraperson – I can't wait for Connor either! His power will even rival Wyatt's! Did you get the pics and the Mutant X link I sent you?

Princess Pinky – Oh no! It's Sunday! Well… where I am at least lol! And I love the Jesse/Lexa pairing! Emma wasn't right for him! Although I may bring in someone for her. And I hope you liked the flashback!

Piperfairy – Wow, thanks for being honest lol! I might change the name back… I don't know. Thanks for reviewing!

PiPeRAnGeL39 – Aww… it was so sad! Wasn't it? And Ryan's evil! He's dead (YAY!) And I'm glad you liked the teamwork, I don't know why I changed the title, it was a 'spur of the moment' thing!

Aniaka – I'm glad you liked everything! And you'll see Chris getting a power in this chapter! And Pamela will be getting a power boost soon… maybe in the next fic. And you'll see how Piper is coping in later chapters. Four chapters! I order you to read my story as soon as its updated lol! Did you get the pics and bios?

**The Teen, Mean, Demon Fighting Machine**

Pamela sighed as she tapped her pen off the desk in her Math class, it was the last thing on a Wednesday and she hoped it would pass by quickly. A ball of paper hit her on the back of the head, she sighed in exasperation and closed her eyes. Ever since the word had got out that Pamela had found her real family, Christie and her back of bimbo's had turned up the heat on her torment. Normally, Pamela just let it wash over her, but lately it had become relentless and hard to ignore.

She turned around and glared at Christie, who sniggered with her friends, Pamela wished that, for one moment, that her powers would advance she would be able to incinerate people with a look. Alas, they didn't, Christie remained her pasty self as she smirked maliciously.

'Pamela! Eyes to the front!' the teacher barked.

She gritted her teeth again and looked back to the clock, glaring at it to move quicker.

* * *

_Damn this rain…_ Pamela thought to her self as she looked up to the sky from the sheltered area of the school entrance. She ran towards the gate, only for someone to knock her down to the ground and into a puddle, ruining her clothes and schoolwork. The surrounding students burst into a roar of laughter, Pamela quickly opened her bag and looked through it, everything was ruined, the art project that her Aunt Paige had helped her with, the food she had proudly made in cooking class that she was going to show her aunt Piper, and her history essay in the second world war that her and her uncle Leo had pulled an all nighter over! Her family's work had been ruined in a matter of moments.

Pamela slowly got up, her jeans soaked from the puddle and her hair plastered to her face because of the rain.

'What… the HELL is your problem!' she shouted across the schoolyard, attracting the attention of everyone, thunder crashing in the sky, as if it was an extension of her anger.

'Excuse me?' Christie said calmly, 'It's not my fault you're a freak!' she turned on her heel and stomped off. But Pamela wasn't finished yet,

'Don't you dare walk away from me!' she made a pointing gesture with her hand, and accidentally activated her exploding power! The shoulder of Christie's top burst to flames, the blast sending her to the ground and into a puddle. It was just Pamela's luck that the Principal would come out see everything, and from her viewpoint, things weren't in the Halliwell's favour. Pamela with her hand outstretched, as if she had thrown something and another student on the ground with a burning piece of clothing.

* * *

'God… What has she done?' Piper groaned as she stepped out of the passenger seat of her Jeep as Leo locked the car.

'Look, just remember not tocome down too hard on her, she's had a rough time of it lately,'

'Yeah, I know, but if she's frozen a cheerleader with her ice powers then…'

'Piper…'

'What? I'm just thinking of what I would have done with powers in high school,'

They walked into the school, holding their coats over their heads to avoid being drenched.

'Hello? Are you Pamela's guardians?' a woman asked

'Yeah, I'm Leo, and this is Piper,' they shook hands, 'I take it you're Mrs Saunders?'

'Yes, please come in,' she led them into her office, where a girl was sitting on one side of the room, with her parents, while Pamela sat alone on the other side, looking defeated and severely outnumbered.

Leo and Piper sat on either side of Pamela; Piper was looking at her niece with a confused look,

'Why are you drenched?'

'Long story,' Pamela said hoarsely, her throat sore from the shouting match she had had with Christie's parents.

'Um… Mr and Mrs Wyatt,' Piper rolled her eyes at he assumption that she had taken Leo's name, 'Just after school today, your niece detonated some sot of bomb, which seriously injured another student. I'm afraid we have no choice but expel her,'

'Oh please!' Pamela butted in, 'The only thing that's injured is her big expensive designer top!' Piper's eyes widened and she froze everyone in the office, not including Leo.

'Pam, a bomb? What did you do?' Piper said in a stern voice

Pamela sighed and buried her face in her hands, 'I lost my temper when she pushed me into a puddle,' her eyes began to fill up, 'I had all the great things that you guys had helped me with…' she reached into her sodden bag, 'This is what remains of my history essay,' she held up the pages to Leo, they were now just pieces of paper with ink running down them, she reached in again, pulling out a plastic box, 'These are the remains of the cookies I made in class,' she handed them to Piper, 'And the paint from my art project has ruined the inside of my bag!'

Piper looked to the frozen girl on the other side of the room, she was smirking!

'Wait a minute… is that the Christie girl you were telling me about?' Pamela nodded, Piper huffed and unfroze the room, 'Listen, Mrs Saunders, you know nothing about my niece, if you did, you would know that that girl,' she pointed to Christie, 'Has made her life a living hell! But if you think expulsion is the way to go then fine! We're leaving!' she went over to Christie, 'By the way, you have the largest zit on your chin!' she stormed out, while everyone else just sat, completely taken aback.

Pamela and Leo looked at each other, completely bewildered, 'What the hell was that all about?' Pamela asked as they walked down the hall,

'I think Piper was resolving her issues more than yours,' he replied

'What's that supposed to mean?'

'She was made fun of in high school by all the popular kids, I think she just wanted to save you from the pain she went through,'

'Okay… Although you have to admit, that was completely unexpected!'

Leo nodded, 'Oh yeah…'

'Uncle Leo?'

'Hmm?'

'What's Magic School like?'

* * *

The Charmed Ones, Aidan, Emma, Leo and Pamela were in the library doing more research. One night a week, they would all come together and try to find a way to vanquish the counterparts, Paige, Aidan and Emma were working on potions while Piper and Pamela worked on a spell, which would require The Power Of Three, not just Emma saying the spell, the real Power Of Three.

Piper sat in the library, with many books sprawled out across the table, the Book Of Shadows being one of them, she had taken a break from spell writing to just watch her boys play.

'Wyatt! Give me back that fire twuck!' Chris yelled

'No! Auntie Paige got me it for Christmas! It's mine!'

'Wyatt!' Chris reached out for the toy desperately, and was surprised when it blew up in Wyatt's hands.

'Mommy! Why did you do that!' Wyatt screamed.

Piper's eyes widened, 'What! I didn't…' she stopped mid sentence when she saw Chris looking at his hands in disbelief.

'Ugh…' Paige walked in, covering her ears, 'They're going to end up smashing the windows!' she exclaimed, referring to her wailing nephews, 'What happened?'

'Chris blew up one of Wyatt's toys,'

'He did what?'

'You heard me,'

Paige shook her head, 'Anyway, breakthrough!'

'Really?' Piper stood up, intrigued as they had got nowhere with research

'Yeah, take a look at this!' She put a potion vial down on the on the table and beamed with pride, 'Ta Da!' the youngest Charmed One gestured at the glowing blue liquid.

'What is it?' her big sister said sceptically, thinking it looked like soda.

'This,' she picked up the potion, 'Is elemental in a vial!' she grinned again as Emma and Pamela walked in.

'Excuse me?' Emma raised her eyebrows

'While you were giving Pam the grand tour, Aidan and I were making a potion with his blood.

'Yum,' the psionic said sarcastically

'The point being…' she glared at Emma, 'If we can get four potions, one for each elemental, then we can combine the potions with a spell of our own and vanquish the mirror me's!'

'The mirror me's?' Piper snorted as she hoisted crying Chris into her lap as Pamela tended to Wyatt.

Paige rolled her eyes, 'Whatever you want to call them… with these potions and a beautifully written spell,' she flattered Piper deliberately to try and sway her attitude, 'It will be like the power of the Elementals and The Charmed Ones attacking at the same time!'

'One problem there, hyper,' Emma said, 'You won't be able to finish this until a new Earth Elemental is chosen,'

'Yeah, Aidan and the others are taking care of that,'

* * *

'I'm getting sick of having to tail him all the time! Can't we just give him his powers already?' Danielle said impatiently, while tapping her foot.

Skye turned round, sick of the Fire Elementals moaning, 'Shut up! Would you rather we gave the powers to the wrong person and have him go crazy? You know that the Earth Elemental dominates over the rest! If we pick the wrong guy then we're screwed!'

Both of them had been sitting in front of a guy's house for the past four hours, passers by thought that the two must be freezing, with the snow that had began to fall, but with Skye redirecting the wind and Danielle keeping them warm with her powers, they were fine. Their patience however, was not. It was no secret that the two never got along, and without Aidan acting as a referee; both Elementals had been at each other's throats all day.

'This is ridiculous! Matt told me that he found all of us in a day! Yet it's taken us months to find this guy, and we're still not sure!'

'Do you ever stop complaining? God… Matt found as all so quickly because he was Earth, and Earth can sense out the others, so don't go calling us incompetent!'

Danielle huffed and continued to look at the house across the street, knowing that their new leader was in there.

And she didn't like it.

* * *

'Pam, c'mon, you've got school in the morning, let's go back up,'

'Aww… Please Uncle Leo! Just one more demon!'

Leo sighed, the sister had asked him to take Pam down to the underworld so she could get more experience with vanquishing demons. If she was gonna live in the Manor, she would need to get used to all forms of evil crashing through the door.

Suddenly, about four demons shimmered in, all brandishing athames and grinning stupidly as they conjured energy balls,

'We don't take kindly to witches coming down here and killing off our kind,' one of them snarled, sending an energy ball at Pam, who quickly raised her hand and encircled it with telekinetic energy. The ball hit her hand, rebounding off it and sending the attack back to the demon, giving him a painful death.

'Well, I don't take kindly to demons going up there and trying to kill my family, but it's the way of the world!' she took a deep breath and blew out, sending out a cloud of freezing energy, encasing the two closest demons in ice, before making a quick gesture with her hands and blowing them up. She ran at the demon, who released an energy ball; Pamela quickly aimed her hands to the ground, using her telekinesis to propel her into the air. She proceeded to spiral kick the demon in the face as the energy ball whirred passed her. The athame dropped from his hand, but was quickly picked up by Pamela and thrust into his chest, causing him to explode and taking the athame with him.

'You never did need training did...'

'Shh!' Leo was quickly silenced, as Pam flicked her fingers, sending one of the grounded athames flying into the darkness. Leo didn't know why she had did that, until a demon stumbled out of the shadows with the dagger in between his eyes, he screamed as flames consumed him and he was vanquished.

Pam took a deep breath and turned to Leo with a smile on her face, 'Alright, let's go!'

'What was that all about?' Leo asked

'I've been battling demons all my life, I've picked up a couple of instincts, c'mon!' she hit Leo's arm in a sign for him to orb out.

* * *

Pamela looked around completely confused, so this was what Magic School was like in the morning! The kids were running about the hallway, lockers were slamming every second, while the chatter of the different groups filled the air. She looked down on the piece of paper in her hand, indicating where her locker was. _13F_ is what it said on the paper. Pam smiled as she realised that she F row was just the right height for her, she scanned the fronts and quickly found 13, which she opened with her powers. As the locker swung open, white lights filled it, revealing various textbooks, her homework planner and her timetable after they disappeared.

'Hey, you new here?' someone asked, Pamela turned round to see it was a girl, probably around the same age as her, she had long black hair that went down her back and dark brown eyes which showed up well against her pale skin.

'Uh… Yeah, I'm Pamela…' she put out her hand

'Hi, I'm Jenna…' the girl shifted the books in her arms to try and shake hands, but all of the books fell from her hands, Pamela made a quick gesture and all the books stopped in their descent and flew back up into Jenna's arms.

'Wow, cool power, a lot better than what I can do,' she said

'What's your power?'

'Well, I can cast illusions and shape shift other objects,'

'Cool! I hope you're in my combat class so I can see it in action,'

'I might, let's see your timetable,' she held out a waiting hand, Pamela handed over the card, 'Hmm… Last period… Yup, you're in my class, the teacher's a beast though,' Pamela laughed,

'Hmm… I bet I could beat him!' Pamela challenged

'Heh… Okay! It's a bet!' Jenna replied, her face turned to stone as she noticed someone coming towards her. Pamela turned around to see a team of girls making their way towards them.

'Well, Jenna, it seems you've made a new friend… Won't last for long though, not after she hears about what you did!'

'Shut up Loretta!' Jenna spat,

'You want to know what she did?' the blonde haired girl said, 'She killed her own family!' Loretta wore a triumphant smirk

Pamela looked to Jenna, who looked defeated, as if another friendship had been quashed. She didn't know what it was, but Pamela's instincts had never led her wrong so she followed them,

She turned to Loretta with a smile, 'The day I listen to a person who takes joy in peoples misery is the day you admit that that blonde is a dye job! Although, you've the blonde act down,' Pamela said in a matter of fact way, 'I think I can choose my own friends,'

Everyone fell silent at this, Pamela had obviously tread across some unknown line. Loretta just stood dumfounded, before turning on her heel and leaving, with her legion of friends behind her.

She turned back to Jenna, 'You okay?'

'Yeah… I'm impressed, that's better than most of the stuff I say to her!' she grinned

'Nothing to it… She's just another Christie,'

* * *

The rest of Pamela's classes flew by, with the help of Jenna being in most of them! The only time where they were separated was in Potions, but things had balanced out by Emma being her teacher, so it had been good.

Pamela and Jenna sat at the table outside in the courtyard, they had struck up a conversation with a telepath called Zachary, apparently, he had already had a run in with the Charmed Ones.

'You held an Elder at athame point!' Jenna raised her eyebrows at his story

'What can I say? I was troubled! But… by the sounds of things…' he turned to Pamela, 'It would have been better if I had taken out Gideon when I had the chance,'

'You heard what happened to my little cousin then?'

'Yeah… I'm sorry,' he said, bowing his head and making his long hair fall over his eyes.

Pamela smiled warmly at him, 'It's alright, Wyatt's safe now,'

'Yeah, with his protective big cousin, he's going to be safe,'

Pamela's face went red, Jenna may have only known her for a day, but she knew the typical signs,

'Uh… Pam? You might wanna say something,' Jenna whispered

Pamela's eyes widened, ready to scold Jenna for that, but then she saw a group of guys hitting something in the middle, she recognised the signs from her school and sprang into action, jogging across the courtyard and squinting her eyes at the boys who were thrown back and landed softly onto the grass.

'Why don't you pick on somebody my size?' Pamela cocked her eyebrow.

The jock got up, not knowing what to do until Loretta stepped in front of him,

'Just because you're a Halliwell, it doesn't mean you're better than us!' fire sprung forth from her hand and flew at Pam, who retaliated with an ice cloud, diffusing the flames. The two were about to fire again, when they were both hit with low power psionic blasts. Emma appeared in the crowd that had gathered, the teacher in her taking over, the blasts were to stun them so no more fire or ice would arise.

'Alright! Everyone out of here! C'mon! Move it!' she shouted, a series of 'Aww's' and, 'Mans…' were heard as Emma led the two to Principal Leo's office.

* * *

'I don't see what the problem is! That kid was seriously hurt! If Emma should be firing psionic blasts at anyone, it should those idiots who were beating on that guy!'

'Pamela… You're not wrong, but you went about it the wrong way,' Emma responded, 'You should have come to me!'

'Yeah, and by that time, that kid has lost more teeth and has got more bruises!'

Leo, Pamela and Emma were discussing the fight that had happened in the courtyard. Loretta had already been sent off to her class, but Pamela was resilient.

'Look, Pam,' Leo sat in the office chair behind the desk, 'You can't use your powers like that, if everyone did that, this place wouldn't be standing! Now I'm letting you off this time because A: You were trying to a good thing and B: the second time was self-defence. Now go to your next class,'

Pamela sighed; it was the best she was going to get. Silently picking up her bag and walking out the door………

She walked into her Literature class where Miss Donovan glanced over her glasses as the class read silently,

'There's a seat for you over there, Pamela,' she said kindly, Pamela nodded and went to sit down. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw that Zach sat next to her.

_What did the Principal say to you?_ His voice rang in her head; she smiled, knowing it must be because of his telepathy.

_Same old crap… Don't do it again, bla bla bla…_

_Well, you can settle everything in combat class next period_

* * *

The class stood at the side of the arena, which was still being repaired after Piper's training sessions when she was getting a handle on her geokinetic abilities. Small cracks could be seen. The teacher jumped up onto the platform, which was an amazing feet, since it was very high, Pam thought he may have the power of animal abilities.

'Alright, I'm going to pair you according to the class of your powers, so Zach, since you're a telepath…'

'Actually sir,' he interrupted, 'My powers advanced over vacation,' an orange globe began to glow in front of his head, he veered his head to the left, firing the telepathic blast and making everyone duck. The yellow bulb diffused harmlessly on the shield that surrounded the area.

'Bravo Zach!' he clapped his hands, 'You shall go with Rita today, she's a telekinetic,'

One by one the students were paired off, when only Pamela and Loretta remained. The teacher grimaced when he saw who he was left with, knowing about their fight at lunch.

'Alright you two, I want a clean fight! I'll be watching you!' the two nodded and took their places.

Pamela and Loretta stared each other down fro a couple of seconds, before both of them unleashed their fury in the form of fire and ice, both clashed in the centre and it was a stalemate. Loretta then fired some sort of concussion blast from her hand, Pamela telekinetically deflected it just in time, but her opponent released another blast to cancel out the first one.

_Okay, next power…_ Pam thought as she raised her hands and blew up a chuck of the ground in front of Loretta, sending her back and onto her ass. She growled in frustration and pain and released acid from her hand! _How many powers does she have!_ Pam rolled out of the way of the acid and got back up, then rolled again to dodge the acid.

She suddenly thought of a plan! Knowing she had to act quickly, she blew out a cloud of ice and it went her Loretta who threw out some fire, but at the last second, Pamela telekinetically redirected the ice cloud and made go over Loretta's head and freeze her from the back!

* * *

'Those were some amazing moves!'

'I can't believe you beat her,'

'You're my hero!'

Pamela listened to the praise of her classmates as she stood at her locker, waiting for Jenna and Zach. Jenna was the first to arrive, she didn't say anything, she just raised her eyebrow,

'What?' Pamela asked innocently

'Look, I may have only known you for a day, but I know you like Zach,' she smirked and folded her arms.

Pam's face went red, 'Jenna! Of course I like him, he's my friend!'

'Uh huh… But there's something more than that,' she said smugly, 'Speak of the devil,'

Pamela turned around to see Zach coming towards them, they began to walk down the hall and talk about their day, how unfair teachers were and the daily gossip of the school. As she walked between her two new friends, Pamela felt like, for once, she belonged.

* * *

Did you like that? I hope you did! Btw, Zach is the telepath from 'Legend Of The Sleepy Halliwell' I though he was a great character! And I even made his powers advance lol! He might mean more to Pamela in the future though…

Chapter 31 'Aidan Parker And The Chamber Of Secrets' will be up soon!


	31. Aidan Parker And The Chamber Of Secrets

Pyrena – Yeah! We should plan a subplot in our stories where Pam and Phelicia trade places by accident! It would be so funny! I'm glad you liked it!

Princess Pinky – Yeah, I know I rock lol! And Christie and Loretta are bitches aren't they? Don't you just love to hate them? And Zach doesn't know about Pam's feeling, since she doesn't even know herself yet! And did you think that I would Lexa and Jesse down two teammates? I have plans, and they won't be completely not in it, they just have a lesser role. And TRUST ME! When Melinda and Emma (Paige's twins) are born, they're gonna blow both boys out of the water, being twins, they have an unstoppable magical bond!

Prince Halliwell – Yeah, it's a telepathic blast! And Piper's outburst was so her! And you'll need to wait and see about Pam and Zach (taps nose) and a little bit of hijynx from Chris there lol!

Piperfairy – Yeah, it's the same Zach, I liked his character. And… Connor isn't born until Chapter 36, sorry!

Wyatt halliwell – I'm glad you liked it! And wait and see about Pam and Zach!

**Aidan Parker And The Chamber Of Secrets**

Paige awoke peacefully, the sun coming through a small crack in the curtains and landing on her face. She turned over to see that Aidan was already up, which was odd, as he told her that he wasn't working today. They had both manage to manevour a day where they both had a day off work so they could spend some time together. She slid out of the bed and pulled on a pair of Aidan's boxers and one of his shirts before opening the bedroom door and walking into the main area.

Paige loved this apartment, it was on the top floor of a fifteen story building, which is was one of the only places in the building that had high ceilings and a beautiful skylight, which let you seethe stars every night and allowed an amazing amount of light into the place. The kitchen was really part of the living room, since the area was so big, all it needed were some kitchen worktops and cooking appliances She heard something sizzling in the kitchen area, eggs were sitting in one of the big pans and were about to burn! Paige quickly grabbed the spatula and moved them around so that her breakfast wouldn't be ruined. It wasn't like Aidan to leave something like this that could be dangerous, and why did he leave the gas on? Paige was forced to think of the one possible explanation. Demon attack.

A large glowing portal suddenly opened in the living room, Paige raised her hand, ready to send whatever came through that portal into the wall. Aidan walked casually through the vortex ad appeared next to Paige, who lowered her hand.

'Hey,' Aidan smiled

Paige pointed at the portal now closing, 'What the hell was that all about?'

'That?' he gestured behind him, 'Oh, just some Elemental stuff, how are my eggs?' he walked to the kitchen

'Hold it!' Paige put the greasy spatula on his chest to stop him 'You can't just come through a portal and expect me not to ask questions!'

Aidan rolled his eyes, 'I told you! Elemental stuff! What do you think I was doing?'

'I don't know! And that's what scares me!'

He sighed, 'Look I'll explain after I change my shirt,' he pointed at the greasy stain on his top and walked into the bedroom. Paige followed him in shortly after, she went up to him and ran her hands over his well-built chest.

'Look, I'm sorry… I just… When you come through a portal at eight am, I tend to want to know where you've been.

He pulled a tight t-shirt over his shoulders and soothed her by rubbing her arms, 'I know, and I promise that you'll understand soon,'

'Okay… I'll go over to Piper's, see if she's busy,' Paige sighed, 'So much for our romantic day off,'

Aidan smiled, 'C'mon Paige, if I get this sorted out, our day could still end with a bang,' he raised his eyebrows

Paige smirked, 'Down boy, I'll see you later,' and with that, he was consumed with water and disappeared.

* * *

Piper ran through the dining room with Chris in her arms, the vase on the table blowing up as she did.

'Chris, honey, stay here!' she ordered, the little boy just nodded and hid under the table while his Mom fought off the demon. Piper blasted the demon back into the sunroom and ran in, but the demon shimmered out of her way and reappeared, standing in front of her.

'Why don't you damn Mantis demons ever give up?' Piper growled as she ducked out of the way of its sharp scythes, which it was swinging about crazily. One of the scythes made contact with Piper's stomach, cutting her slightly and sending her flying towards the wall that separated the living room and sunroom. She thought quickly and phased out, going through the wall and landing on the stairs.

The Mantis demon shimmered in front of her again and was about to bring down his deadly scythe, when he was sent flying towards the door by an unknown force.

Paige walked in from the dining room with Chris on her hip.

'Catch you at a bad time?' Paige offered a hand to help up her sister.

'Ugh…' was the response, Piper made a quick gesture towards the ground, a brown light emitting from her palms and going into the floor. She kept doing this until a cloud of orange light burst forth around the Mantis demon, vanquishing it instantly.

'Wow, someone finally got a handle on their new power…' Paige said, impressed

'It's hardly new Paige, I've had it for a year, and my yard has never looked better!' she beamed.

Paige laughed, 'Anyway, what was that all about?'

'Ugh… Swarm of Mantis demons are in town, they've stopped by uninvited several times,'

'Sounds serious,' Paige put a supportive hand on her sister's shoulder, 'I don't see how you're coping without me,'

'Yeah, yeah… Could you look after Chris? I need to go P3 and finalise stuff with 'The Killers' manager, they're playing at the club in a couple of weeks,'

'Sure… I need to check the book anyway,' Paige set her nephew down

Piper groaned again, 'I don't even wanna know why…' she headed for the door and picked up her car keys, she saw the weather outside and cursed, 'Snow!' she turned back to Paige, 'Tell your boyfriend to sort out this mess! And soon!' she walked out into the fresh blizzard and slammed the door.

Paige bent down to Chris, 'Hey, you wanna learn more about uncle Aidan?'

'Sure! Does that mean I can look at the Book Of Shades?' he said hopefully,

Paige stifled a laugh, 'Yes it does!' she hoisted him onto her hip and climbed the stairs to the attic. Once there, she flipped the pages until she found what she was looking for. The Elementals page.

It was one of the most extravagant pages in the book, flames were in the bottom right corner, a wave of water across from that, a tornado above it, and a tree sat in the top right corner. The ancient Wiccan symbols for the four elements were also there Paige began to read

_Elementals are the four immensely powerful beings that that protect and balance the world. With the powers of earth, wind, water and fire, it is very rare to them to be seen or attacked. However, not all Elementals are born as one, sometimes they are chosen when another has fallen. There is a legend that the very essences of the elements themselves are kept in the Elemental Chamber, a heavily guarded place that exists on another plane, elementals are brought here by the others to receive their powers and to be blessed by the four planets that are said to govern over each element. Venus is said to govern Earth, Mercury to Water, Mars to Fire and Jupiter to Wind._

She turned the page, hoping to find more information, but when she realised that that was the entire book had, she hit the page,

'Oh come on! Beings that have been around for centuries and there's only a page!' the pages of the book suddenly began to move by their own, an unknown wind moving the pages until it settled on one of the pages in the summoning section.

Paige went back over to the book, and was about to read, when there was a crash downstairs that attracted her attention.

* * *

Pamela flew into the coffee table, her books flying out of her hands and onto the floor while her stomach bled freely. Zach quickly fired a telepathic blast at the Mantis demon and ran over to help Pamela up. Jenna concentrated on the demons mind, finally conjuring an illusion in the form of all three Charmed Ones. They walked towards the demon and began to say the spell

'Dark being of the foulest order,

Your filthy soul will cross the border,

Bend to the will of the Power Of Three,

And a fiery vanquish you will see!'

The Mantis wailed in pain as his body began to come apart in the flames. It exploded, leaving a scorch mark on the floor. Pamela winced in pain from Zach helped her sit up,

'Aunt Paige!' she breathed out of her teeth, still in pain.

Paige was running down the stairs with Chris, 'Here, hold him,' she handed him to Jenna as she put her hand over Pamela's stomach and the cut healed instantly.

'Ugh… Damn bugs,' Pamela groaned as Jenna and Zach helped her up.

'How long have these guys been attacking you?' Paige asked

'For about a week, usually Emma, Aunt Piper and me are here, but not always,' she replied,

'Wow… I'm really out of the loop these days!'

'Yeah, I came here to do some homework and that asshole threw me into the table!'

'Language,' Paige scolded, Pam rolled her eyes,

'C'mon you guys, my room's this way, you wanna come, Chris?'

'Okay!' He took Pam's hand and they climbed the stairs.

Paige walked into the kitchen, getting the dustpan and brush so she could clean up the glass of the vase that was in pieces on the dining room table. She bent down to sweep up the remains when there were noises coming from upstairs.

'Not again… I don't even live here,' Paige groaned before orbing out to the source of the noise.

* * *

The alter was blasted with an energy ball, blasting the Book Of Shadows into the wall. Paige surveyed the scene; Aidan was on the ground healing the Wind Elemental, Skye, while Danielle, the Fire Elemental, seemed to meditating. Paige soon saw what she was doing when fire suddenly sprang forth from the floor, engulfing the demons in flames and killing them.

Pamela walked in and looked around the attic, 'What the hell… Is this place like a truck stop for demons!'

Paige let out a sigh, healing an unconscious man on the ground, 'Pretty much… Wait a minute, who the hell is this I'm healing?'

Aidan helped Skye to her feet before answering, 'Uh… He's the Earth Elemental,'

'Really?' Pamela looked at the guy, 'He doesn't look like a fearless leader to me… Although he is pretty hot,' Paige hit her on the arm, 'Sorry… That time of the month,' Aidan cringed at her fearless proclamation.

* * *

Piper climbed the steps into the Manor, overly aware of the fact that there was someone parked outside watching her. She suddenly remembered what Paige had told her some reporter from Phoebe's newspaper being after them. Phoebe… A pang of sadness hit Piper; she hoped that her sister would return home soon, as Elise had been calling recently, wanting to talk to her about expanding her column. Piper had just told her to e-mail her, but Elise had put up a fight, wanting to speak to Phoebe in person, but she had won eventually.

Not only that, the entire family missed her like crazy! Wyatt and Chris would ask where their Aunt 'Phee' was, and the recent Power Of Three spells hadn't packed the same power, Pamela and Emma just couldn't keep up when it came to powers, Pam was too young and Emma, she just wasn't Charmed.

Piper but her hand on the handle, but it flew open from the other side and a man stormed out.

'This is too much for me… I'm outta here!' he stomped down the stairs

'Grant! Come back!' Paige shouted out the door before noticing her big sister, 'What are you waiting for? Freeze him!'

'I can't!' Piper nodded towards the reporter's car, who was watching the scene intently.

'Ugh… Great,'

'Mind filling me in?'

Paige walked back into the house with the oldest Halliwell close behind. Piper saw all the people in the living room and just gaped, not knowing what was going on.

'I think you've met everyone, there's Skye and Danielle, we saved them from the brink of death,' the two Elementals just nodded wordlessly.

'Okay, what's going on?'

* * *

'What! You failed!'

'They went to the Charmed Ones, sir! My entire group was vanquished by the Fire Elemental!' the Mercenary demon cowered before Auron, his current client.

'The Charmed Ones? Ha! They are no threat without the middle sister! Don't use it as an excuse!'

'But the three remaining are strong! Even without the Earth Elemental!' he squeaked

Auron closed his eyes, the markings on his eyelids made it look as if he had no eyes. He smiled,

'They are beginning to split up to cover more ground,' he suddenly scowled, 'Your men were sloppy, they've left residue that the witches can scry with,' he opened his eyes.

'Just out of curiosity, why do you want the Elementals powers?'

He smirked, 'That's easy, so I can control the rest of them,'

* * *

Paige sat on a stool, looking at the Book of Shadows, which was now sitting on a new altar as Aidan stood next to her. She was looking through the pages carefully, not wanting to miss anything out. Finally losing patience, she shouted, 'Auron!' while using her telekinesis. The pages flew forward, finally landing on one in the demon section.

'Is this the guy?' she tapped the picture

Aidan leaned over her, Paige could smell his cologne, 'Mmm… Yeah, he's the one… upper level…astral projection…power hungry…' Piper walked into the room as he finished.

'Okay, Danielle and Emma went to go get Grant. If he puts up resistance, Emma can just zap him! And Skye, Pamela and me are going to take out the mercenary demons,'

'Do you know where they are?' Paige rested her elbows on the book

'Yeah, we scryed with some of the dust left from the attack, you coming?'

'Uh…' she glanced at Aidan, 'No, you guys won't need me, you're all a lot more powerful,'

Piper looked back and forth between her baby sister and Aidan before smirking and walking out the room. Paige went to look at how to vanquish Auron, when a mystical wind blew into the attic, scattering the pages and making them land on a certain one.

'A summoning spell for… hidden unknowns?' Aidan read from the book while pulling a face at the same time, 'Maybe the book's just delusional,' he said, flipping back to the Auron page, but the books flipped back to the summoning spell.

'Or maybe… It's trying to tell us something,' Paige looked at the spell, 'I think it's about us, rather than Auron,' she looked up at him before looking down and saying the spell, much to Aidan's surprise.

'Something lurks, within my soul

Doubt that is, as black as coal,

Reveal the truth, show to me

All the answers I'm meant to see,'

A blue portal opened up in the middle of the room, it looked a lot like the one Aidan had come through that morning. She gave him a look before walking into it and he reluctantly followed.

Paige looked around her surroundings, wherever she was, it was the most beautiful place she had ever seen! It was a large cave, except that the walls hummed and glowed softly, Paige could hear a breath taking song being played somewhere.

'It's the Angel's Melody,' Aidan appeared next to her, 'No one knows where it comes from, but it's never stopped playing,'

She looked down, noticing that water lay beneath them; they where standing on a large stone island and the rest was dotted with smaller stone pillars. There were four large islands, similar to the one they were standing on, and each glowed with the colours of green, red, blue and purple. Paige could only gape at this… heaven.

'Angel's Melody…' she turned to Aidan, 'You know where we are?'

He nodded, 'The Elemental Chamber,'

'Well… Thanks for letting me in,' a voice said, both swivelled round to see Auron on the edge of the portal, stepping in just in time, before it closed.

* * *

'Okay, this makes no sense, the crystal keeps dropping here! They're around somewhere!' Piper exclaimed as they she threw the crystal onto the ground of the alley they were in. Skye was about to say something, when her eyes went misty,

'Oh my God…'

'What?' asked Pamela, who had returned from her sweep of the rat infested place. Danielle flamed in with Emma and Matt, who seemed reluctant.

'Skye… Did you sense that?' Skye merely nodded

'Sense what?' Emma asked, completely confused

'A demon has infiltrated our Sanctuary,'

* * *

Paige deflected the fireball, the attack hitting off Auron's chest and knocking him back a bit. He shook it off just in time to put up his hand and stop the wave of icicles that Aidan had thrown.

'Silly beings! You can't defeat me!' he roared.

'No… But we can,' a woman's voice said, Auron spun round to see the cavalry had arrived in the form of everyone, 'Skye! Now!' Danielle shouted, both Elementals assaulting the demon with fire and lightning. Aidan joined by throwing a powerful jet of water at him. All of this still wasn't enough, so Piper jumped in and used her geokinetic abilities to complete the pattern.

Thunder crashed as Auron screamed and writhed in the powerful attacks, he began to disintegrate from the feet up and was vanquished.

'Well,' Pamela walked up to the ashes, 'At least he went out with a bang,'

* * *

Paige was staring out onto the moonlit city of San Francisco from her living room, she smiled when a pair of arms snaked around her waist from the back and someone began kissing her neck,

'When I turn round, I hope I see Aidan Parker,' she joked,

'Mmm… If you don't turn round, I'll just need to keep doing this,' he kissed the point that connected her shoulder and neck. Reluctantly, she turned around to face him, although she was met by a passionate kiss, which made up for the loss of love for her neck.

'So, are we okay?' he asked

'We never were not okay… I just don't see why you hide these things from me when they just end up amazing me!'

He smiled, 'I'll try and remember to tell you all the details of being an Elemental,' he grinned, 'But right now, let's just have a private moment shall we?' he picked up in his arms and he splashed them out to the bedroom, Paige's giggles echoing along the way.

* * *

NEXT TIME: After a major slip up during ghost vanquishing talk, Emma's dark secret is finally revealed and the sisters don't know how to treat her. She leaves the Manor, only to find comfort in the arms of the new Earth Elemental

Chapter 32 'The Truth Revealed' will be up soon!


	32. The Truth Revealed

Prince Halliwell – I'm you liked the kid stuff and the spells! And the Elementals in all their glory will be in the sequel! And as my 100th reviewer, you get to make the chapter title for the next chapter! The summary is at the bottom so get thinking! And you'll need to wait and see about the whole New Charmed Ones thing!

Piperfairy – LOL! Is your sister still practising? If she is then you must have a big headache! You've only got 4 chapters until Connor is born! And Emma's secret is in this chapter! And the only reason I give them hot guys is because the show never gives them any decent love interests! (Leslie, Richard) so these guy know how t great a Halliwell!

Pyrena – Yeah, everyone's pairing off! And Shal will definitely be in the finale and maybe chapter 36! And Grant and Emma's relationship will be slow; I think I went too fast with Paige and Aidan so I'm going slowly this time.

Wyatt halliwell – Thanks! And I did have a chapter where Piper becomes an Elemental until they can find the real one, but I scrapped it.

Princess Pinky – Yeah, Pam's my crowning achievement! I love her! You'll love one of her lines! It's after Piper asks how she's feeling. And Mel and Emma are going to be saving their cousins asses A LOT! I have a story planned where they're all grown up! How could they be not nice to Pam? Who else would teach them how to be sarcastic and witty? And watch Aidan carefully, his secrets could be his downfall…

**The Truth Revealed**

Paige and Emma walked down a busy San Francisco street while sharing a large bag of cookies that they had purchased. Paige had intended them to last until they walked back to her building, but when Emma grabbed the bag off her, she groaned as she only saw a couple of measly crumbs at the bottom of the bag.

'Ugh… How can you eat so much dry food in this heat?' she panted, taking a swig from the bottle of water in her hand and shielding her eyes from the sun after throwing the bag in a nearby waste basket on the sidewalk.

'Oh… I'm just so special,' Paige said mystically, before laughing as they turned the corner to her building. They stopped walking when they saw that the entrance was blocked off by police tape, and cop cars littered the area.

'What's going here?' Emma walked towards the curious tenants that were waiting to be allowed back in.

'Hmm… I hope this cuts down on rent costs,' Paige replied, before receiving a disapproving look from her friend, 'Sorry,'

'Hey, look! It's Piper and Pamela,' Emma pointed in the direction of the two, who were sitting on the hood of a car. Emma could sense that whatever had happened, it had shocked Pamela to the bone, not to mention the fact Piper had her arm around her niece's shoulders.

'Hey, what brings you guys here?' Paige asked

Piper looked at Emma and nodded towards Pamela, signalling that she needed comfort. The two witches switched places and the Halliwell sisters began to talk.

'She had a premonition this morning, of an young woman being attacked by a floating knife and… we didn't get here in time,'

Paige, finally understanding, 'Oh… Her first loss of an innocent,' she could relate, as she felt the same way after her first loss, a golem named Fin.

'Yeah… I figure we're dealing with a ghost since the woman couldn't see him and we could,'

'Hold on! She actually witnessed the death?' Piper nodded, 'Ugh… God, poor girl,'

Pam watched the black body bag on a stretcher being carted into an ambulance, a lone tear stinging her cheek, 'I've never seen a person die before,' she whispered, 'Demons, yeah, they just either blow up or turn to dust. But this…'

Emma nodded sympathetically, 'I know… And I also know that we're gonna get this guy like we always do,'

Pamela looked on the other side of the ambulance, where the woman's husband and little girl stood with each other. The father was trying to stay strong for his daughter as she watched her mother being zipped up into the bag and wheeled into the back of the ambulance.

'You're wrong…' she stood up from the hood, '_I'm_ gonna get this guy,' she stormed off down the street.

* * *

'Beloved unknown spirit, I call to thee

Cross over now, so mote it be,'

Pamela watched the stardust the middle of the circle spin around, as she didn't know the identity of the woman that had been killed, she hoped that this spell would call out to the slain woman.

There was a burst of light and the stardust vanished, leaving the transparent apparition of the woman that the ghost had killed in Paige's apartment.

'Uh… Hi!' Pamela hadn't been expecting the spell to work, 'I know this is going to sound really insensitive, but… were you killed this morning?'

The woman squinted her eyes, 'Are you a witch?'

'Yeah, are… were you one too?' Pamela smiled nervously, hoping to cover up her mistake; she was never good with tenses.

'No,' the woman bowed her head, 'My husband and daughter are though, please! You have to help them!'

'Don't worry! That's why I summoned you! Do you anything about the force that… um…'

'Killed me?'

Pamela laughed, 'Sorry, I'm not used to the whole 'I see dead people' thing,'

The woman smiled, 'It's alright, and I don't know about the killer, but I think it may have something to do with my husband's power,'

'His power? What is it?'

'I don't know, but he told me that it is one of the only powers that occurs on both our plane and the spiritual plane,'

'The spiritual plane…' Pam looked at the Book Of Shadows, 'I read something like that…' she flipped through the pages, until the pages began to move by themselves and landed on the page she was looking for.

'Whoa!' she looked at the page, 'Ah ha! I knew it! Plasmakinesis,' she smiled at the ghost in front of her.

'Yes! That sounds familiar!' the woman responded enthusiastically

Pamela kept her hands on her crossed legs as she read aloud, 'Plasmakinesis is the ability to shoot plasma from one's hands… No kidding,' she said sarcastically before continuing, 'Plasmakinesis is one of the only Wicca powers that can break through the boundaries of life and death, making it a feared power among many undead forces of evil.' She looked up, 'That's explains why there's a ghost after him, but it must be demonic, since I don't think a mortal ghost would be wanting to kill him, as they know squat about magic! Oh… Sorry,' she winced at her lack of tact again.

The woman hadn't seemed to notice, 'Please help my family!' she pleaded.

'Don't worry! There's a spell in here that will…' she touched the page and stopped talking as she wassucked into a premonition.

'_C'mon Sweetie! Run!' the husband of the recently deceased woman urged his daughter, 'Get to somewhere safe!' he pushed her in the opposite direction._

'_But Daddy!' the little girl protested. There was a whooshing sound and the demonic ghost appeared._

'_If I take you out, I'll be revered in the ghostly community!' he grinned savagely, before releasing a lightning bolt……… _

The vision ended and Pamela gasped and clutched her chest, once again flipping through the book, and looking for the spell to vanquish a ghost.

* * *

'Aunt Piper!' Pamela jumped down the stairs, 'Aunt Paige! We have trouble!' she ran into the kitchen, where her aunts where sitting at the table, probably talking about her.

'I had a premonition, the dead woman's husband is going to die!'

'What? How do you…' Piper began

Pamela waved her arms at her, signalling her to be quiet, 'We don't have much time! I have the spell, so we…'

'What spell?' Paige asked, knowing that there was only one

'This one,' she thrust the paper into her aunt's hand, Paige quickly skimmed it over before shaking her head.

'Only a dead witch can use this spell,' she informed her niece, who looked devastated

'But! We can still protect this guy!' Piper chipped in, not wanting Pamela to lose hope; 'We'll orb him out and deal with the ghost later,'

'What's going on?' Emma walked into the kitchen, 'I heard Pamela shouting down the stairs and I thought the ceiling was going to come down on us!'

'Crappy jokes later, innocent saving now,' Piper said, huddling with Paige and Pamela, 'Well? Come on!' she urged the redhead. Emma sighed and joined in the huddle, letting Paige's orbs carry them to the innocent.

* * *

'C'mon Sweetie! Run!' the husband of the recently deceased woman urged his daughter, 'Get to somewhere safe!' he pushed her in the opposite direction.

'But Daddy!' the little girl protested. There was a whooshing sound and the demonic ghost appeared.

'If I take you out, I'll be revered in the ghostly community!' he grinned savagely, before releasing a lightning bolt…

Which was deflected into the wall by a telekinetic force that flew from Pamela's outstretched hand.

'Witches…' the ghost growled under his breath, before releasing a lightning bolt at the four of them. Emma rolled out of the way and fired a mental attack at him before checking on her friends. Piper and Paige were beginning to get up but Pam seemed to be knocked out for the count. The psionic mutant checked her student and saw that she had a piece of paper crumpled up in her hand. She quickly removed it and began to read the spell that was written on it.

'Ashes to ashes,

Spirit to spirit

Take his soul,

Banish this evil!'

The ghost screamed in pain. Emma didn't have the power to vanquish him completely, so he just faded out, still alive. Piper and Paige gaped at what their friend had just did as they helped the man and child to their feet. Emma turned round and raised her eyebrows,

'What?'

* * *

'She used the spell?' Leo repeated in disbelief

Piper stopped pacing the attic and sighed in exasperation, 'How many times do I need to say this? She said spell, ghost went bye bye,' Piper said in a patronising voice.

They all jumped as lightning crashed outside. It had been scorching sun earlier in the day, but now a terrible storm raged outside, Aidan had explained that the wacky weather would continue for about a week more even after the Elementals had been reconstituted. It was like the aftershock of an earthquake.

Piper continued to pace the attic as Paige looked through the book. Pamela and Emma were downstairs keeping an eye on the innocents that they had managed to save from the demon ghost.

'Damn…' Paige closed the book and leaned her elbows on the cover, holding up her head with her hands.

'Find anything?' her big sister asked with folded arms

'Nothing… If she found a way to cast that spell, she didn't find it in this,' she tapped the Book Of Shadows.

'Of course, there's another possibility,' Leo stood up from the sofa,

'What's that?' Paige raised her head

'That she's…'

'Hey!' Emma walked into the attic, 'Okay, Pamela is with the guy and his daughter, although they're seriously shaken up,' she looked around the room and continued to explain when she got no response, 'So… Maybe if we combine our powers and use that spell…'

'_We_ can't use that spell,' Piper cut in flatly

'What are you talking about? I used it and it seemed to repel the ghost,'

'No… Paige and I can't use the spell, as only a dead witch can say it and make it work,'

Emma's face went chalk white and her jaw hit the floor.

Busted…

* * *

Emma looked around the judgemental faces that stared at her. She couldn't let her secret get out, not now, she wasn't ready to tell them. That left her with only one choice. Quick on the draw, a psionic blast flew from her head, it was only supposed to wipe Paige's memory, but she saw this as an attack and went into full fighting mode.

She orbed out, still reluctant to fight her best friend as she reappeared behind her. But Emma had expected this, and hit her with a powerful psychokinetic blast just as she orbed in, throwing her into a pile of old furniture on the other side of the room.

Knowing that Piper would immediately go on the offensive now that Emma had shown hostile actions, she quickly channelled the eldest Halliwell's powers through her empathy and blasted Piper back with her own power before she could raise her hands properly. This left Leo, probably the most dangerous of them all, since he was an Elder,

'Emma… why?' he breathed

She looked at him with genuine sorrow in her eyes, 'I'm sorry Leo, but I have to do this,' she was about to fire a mental charge of wipe his memory, when a recently awoken Piper, threw out her hands and sent Emma flying by blowing up a chunk of the floor. Emma dusted off her pants, and fired a psionic blast that went straight for Piper.

'What the hell is going on in here!' Pamela ran in, not seeing the psionic blast, and was hit, knocking her out and sending into the wall.

Emma recoiled as she realised what she had done, all she could do was stand on the same spot as Piper helped up her niece.

'Get out…' Piper growled

'Piper, I…'

'GET OUT!' she bellowed, her powers activating and making the house shake slightly. Emma took this as a big enough warning and run out the attic, tears streaming from her face.

* * *

Emma slowly walked along the street, the rain pounding both the sidewalk and her. She watched people put their jackets over their heads and run for cover as she pulled her ankle long cardigan closer to her body. Not that it mattered though, it wouldn't make her any warmer as every inch of her body was soaked and she needed to pull her fringe off of her forehead as it was plastered to her skin as a result of the rain.

'Hey hot stuff, how about you come to me and get warm?' a man standing in a doorframe asked her, while wiggling his brows suggestively

Emma rolled her eyes, although he couldn't say as the nearest streetlight was about ten feet away, 'Uh… No thanks,' she began to walk again, but he grabbed her arm.

'People don't say no to me,' he began to pull her into the door.

'Hey! Get your hands off her!' a voice said

Emma turned round to see who it was and let out a sigh of relief, it was Grant! The Earth Elemental!

'Let her go now,' he snarled, yanking the mans hand off Emma's arm

'This doesn't concern you!' the man shouted, before taking a drunken swing at Grant, who dodged easily and hit the guy himself, he slumped into the door way and fell unconscious.

'Thanks!' Emma shouted over the noise of rain battering a nearby canope

'Your welcome!' he shouted back, 'What are you doing in this part of town?'

'It's a long story!' she pulled him into the door way so they could hear each other better, 'Long story short, I got kicked out and I've wondering around in the rain for the past couple of hours,'

'What? You're going to catch pneumonia or something! You're lucky I was here, since you didn't seem to be using your powers on that guy,' he nodded to the knocked out man,

'Yeah, thanks, Gotta go,' she began to walk away when he grabbed her arm gently

'I don't think so, you're coming back to my place,'

'Excuse me?' she raised her eyebrows

'I mean…' she could see he blushing in the dim light, 'You can get a change of clothes, dry off, get a shower… and I'll share my soggy dinner with you!' he held up a bag of soaking Chinese food.

She smiled, 'You sure know how to charm a girl, don't you?' she laughed, 'Alright,' she walked back to him,

'Wait a minute, hold this,' he handed her a wet brown bag and took off his coat, putting it round her shoulders and taking back the bag.

'What about you?' she snuggled into the warmth and smell of his jacket

He shook his head, 'Don't worry, my apartment is only a couple of blocks away,' he took the collar of his jacket and pulled it closed, before leading the way.

* * *

'Um… I'm just going to change my t-shirt,' Grant as they walked into his apartment, he took the bottom of his shirt and wrung it out over the sink in the kitchen. Emma looked around; it looked a lot like Paige's apartment, spacious, a skylight…

He went over to the food he brought with him 'There's a towel in the bathroom, so go and have a shower while I heat this…' he looked in the bag and grimaced, 'While I order pizza,' he finished his sentence with a grin. Emma smiled and made her way over to the bathroom, it would feel good to get out of her wringing clothes. She closed the door and began to think, Paige and Piper would probably come after soon, and she didn't blame them! After the way she had left, they would want to vanquish her. She put her hands on the side of the sink and looked in the mirror, glaring at her reflection, she looked like a drowned rat! No wonder that guy had thought she was a hooker. Making up a quick spell, she said it aloud and protected herself,

'Hide me from the Power Of Three

Impossible to find, make me be,'

* * *

'Found her yet?' Piper asked coldly as she paced the attic for the second time tonight.

'Hmm… I felt the crystal pulling a second ago, but it's not anymore,' Paige replied

Leo was downstairs with the innocents as the three Halliwell witches discussed what had happened a couple of hours ago.

Pamela took the bag of frozen peas off her head and rubbed the bump, groaning in the process,

'How do you feel?'

'Ugh… Like of been trampled by a mob of fat middle aged men…' she winced and pulled her hand away from her bump, Piper smirked at her niece's colourful metaphor, 'You know, something about all this is bothering me,'

'The fact that you've got a mountain on your head?' Paige offered, receiving a non-amused look from Pamela.

'No…' she glared at her aunt, 'If Emma really did want to kill us, then how am I still alive after being hit with her power?'

Piper and Paige looked at each other, they had known Emma for long enough to know that no one survived her psionic blast unless she wanted them to and if she had wanted to kill them, why hadn't she did it already? They had all lived together for the better part of a year before Paige had moved out, why hadn't she just killed them in their sleep?

The eldest Halliwell hesitated before answering, 'Okay… maybe you're right, but it still doesn't explain why she lied to us and why she reacted the way she did!'

Leo walked in with Paul and Louise, the innocents, after deciding that they would be safer up in the attic and it was also a reason to try and find out what was going on.

'Maybe…' Leo began, after hearing the end of the conversation when he climbed the stairs, 'She didn't tell because she saw how you reacted when you lost Prue for a second time and she didn't want to remind you of 'second chances','

Paige sighed and dropped the crystal, 'It's no use, she's hiding herself from us, we've tried scrying, summoning… maybe we should just go out and look for her?' Paige suggested, shrugging her shoulders.

'Oh c'mon Paige! With her powers, she could be on a plane to Timbuktu without even a dollar in her pocket! That won't work!'

The youngest Charmed One stood up, challenging her big sister, 'At least I'm trying! All you're doing is walking in circles and second guessing everyone!'

'That's enough,' Leo interrupted, the pacifist Elder in him taking over, 'We'll deal with Emma later, but we've still got other problems…'

'The demon?' Pamela sat up a bit more

'Yeah,' Paul answered, hoisting his daughter onto his hip, 'I'm one of the only witches that is a threat to him, so no doubt he'll be back…'

'Then we better find Emma,' Piper said reluctantly

'What!' Paige and Pamela said together

'Look, I wanna know what her story is and we need her to vanquish this guys, since your powers didn't seem to work last time,' she nodded to Paul.

Little did they know that the demonic ghost was sitting in the wall, waiting to strike.

* * *

Emma finished off the last slice of pizza, after fighting Grant for it, who was now preparing some dessert. She looked up and through the skylight, the rain pounding on the glass; she gasped a large bolt of purple lightning forked across the sky.

'Here you go,' he sat down next to her on the sofa, 'It's the best I could rustle up,' he handed her a bowl

'Oh my God! Ice cream with fudge sauce! I haven't had this stuff ever since I was a kid!' she beamed and thrust her spoon into the ice cream.

Grant laughed, 'Wow, you're an easy girl to please,'

'Hmm…' she smirked at him, 'Not all the time… Sex for instance,' she watched him blush and smiled before rubbing the smooth fabric of his t-shirt, 'Thanks for letting me borrow this, and the pants,' she signalled to her legs, pointing out the thin pyjama bottoms that were at least three sizes too big for her.

'Keep them, the pants were an unwanted Christmas present, I meant to take them to a charity drive, but if you can get some use out them, take them,'

She rubbed the fabric of the pants, 'Thanks, when you say unwanted… Do you mean you already had a pair or…' Emma smirked; they had been doing this all night, seeing who could embarrass the other the most.

'No…' he smirked back, 'I just sleep in my underwear… only that,' now it was Emma's turn to go scarlet, and get slightly turned on.

Grant checked his watch, 'Wow, it's 2am! I didn't realise that we had talked for so long!' he smiled

Emma grinned, 'What can I say? We're just compatible!' she patted his knee, 'C'mon, I'll help you with the clean up!' she stood up and walked over to the kitchen with the Earth Elemental closely behind.

Grant went to the sink with the empty bowls while Emma put the ice cream tub back in the freezer. They both turned round to help each other at the same time and Emma's face was met with the wall that was his chest. Both went red, but neither moved. Emma looked up and leaned in, Grant doing the same. Their lips were about to meet when Emma suddenly was overcome with a feeling of dread and sadness… something terrible was happening.

She pulled back immediately, leaving Grant completely humiliated and crestfallen

'Uh… I'm sorry,' he said, trying to be a gentleman, although he wasn't the least bit sorry.

'What? Oh… no, it wasn't that! That, I want to try again, but my friends are in trouble,' she said urgently

'How do you know?'

'I can feel it…' she looked up to him with wide eyes, 'Can you use your Earth powers yet?'

'Eh… some of them,'

'Good!' she held his hand, 'Just go, I'll guide you,' still looking a bit hesitant, Grant squeezed his eyes closed and they disappeared in a tower of sand.

* * *

Everyone was cowering behind a large dresser as the demon advanced, the Charmed One's powers were useless on the ghost and Paul's weren't strong enough to take him out.

'You can't there, witches!' he gloated, sending a red bolt of lightning at the dresser, blowing it up.

'Alright, divide and conquer!' Piper said, she went to the right with Paige and the innocents, while Pamela and Leo went to the left. The ghost smirked and went towards Paul, but he stopped and began to writhe in the air. Echoes of Emma's voice filled the air as she appeared in the room within a pillar of sand; she was chanting the vanquishing spell!

'Ashes to ashes,

Spirit to spirit,

Take his soul,

Banish this evil!'

She recited the spell three times, the ghost still not dying, she didn't have enough power! Suddenly, Louise, the little girl, ran out and threw up her hands, an amazing amount of plasma shot forth and hit the transparent being, burning him like acid. The combined power of the plasma and the spell vanquished the ghost, making him silently fade away.

Emma looked at the Halliwell sisters, she knew that it would be a long time before they trusted her again, she knew that they would want some answers, and she knew that they would make it.

She also knew that she had A LOT of explaining to do.

* * *

YAY! Emma's secret is out! What did you think?

NEXT TIME: After a group of darklighters almost kill her nephews, Paige uses a potion to disguise her powers in evil so she can infiltrate the group and bring them down. But after coming to blows with her counterpart in the underworld, the two switch bodies and cause chaos for both sides! Emma refuses to tell the sisters about her first death and Pamela continues to help innocents by herself………

Okay, I haven't got a title for this one, but PRINCE HALLIWELL, as my 100th reviewer, I'm asking you to make a title for it!


	33. Witch Swap Part 1

Prince Halliwell – Glad you liked it! And the Emma and Grant relationship is going to be a mystery up until the very last minute lol! And I'm using your title! It's going to be two parter!

Piperfairy63 – Ugh… Sisters eh? I know what that's like! And thanks! It's good to know that my chapter titles are appreciated!

Princess Pinky – Was that a surprise? Cool! And you'll find out about her death in this chapter! And I'm glad you liked the weather! In the show it's ALWAYS sunny, so I though I would change that! Shal will be making her comeback in Chapter 36; she's going to be good this time, unlike from when we last saw her! And I'm working on something right now; it'll probably once this story is over that I'll write something else, I can't concentrate on something else until this is complete! And Pamela's great, isn't she?

Pyrena – Glad you liked it! And the sisters are going to be on pretty shaky ground for a while as far as Emma is concerned! And Pamela's great! She's by prized creation!

Aniaka – Hi! Your reviews are always so detailed! I hope you write a fan fic soon! I would love to read it! And it's shocking how far she would go to keep her secret, isn't it? And I thought that that situation was the best way to bring in Chris's power, they'll be a lot more incidents once the other kids are born!

**Witch Swap Part 1**

'Hey, What two ingredients do you never mix in a potion?' Pamela sat at the island in the kitchen doing her Potions homework.

'Burdock root and eye of newt,' Piper answered, drying off a cup with a towel as she stared out the window.

'Okay… Can't use burdock root then…' she scribbled something down on a piece of paper.

'What are you doing?' she put the mug onto the rack and examined the pad her niece was scribbling on, 'Possible ingredients…? What's this all about?'

'Potions assignment… we were given three ingredients to start off with and from there, we're on our own,' Pamela looked down at the paper,

'So, what exactly are you making then?'

'Oh, it's a glamouring potion,'

The oldest Halliwell looked at the pad again, 'These ingredients aren't in a glamouring potion… what are you making?' she asked again with an eyebrow raised.

'It's a secret…' the teenager responded

Piper sighed, knowing that she wasn't going to get an answer out of her, she went back to the window and picked up the towel again, beginning to dry a plate.

Pamela continued to scribble on the pad for a couple more minutes until standing up and putting it under her arm.

'Okay, I'm off to the demonic market,'

'What?' Piper put down the plate

'Oh! Don't worry, I've been going there for the past couple of years, although I was pretty annoyed when you and Aunt Phoebe went on a rampage, I couldn't get ingredients for a week!'

'Well, we had a good reason, Wyatt was up for auction and… Wait a minute! You're trying to distract me! You're not going to the demonic market!'

Pamela stomped her foot, 'C'mon! Do you want me to fail Potions?'

'Pam, you live with your teacher, be a normal teenager and use all of your resources,' she went back to the sink.

'What? As if Emma would give me help! She's not even talking to us ever since…'

'I know, but what does she expect from us? She's the one that played Casper for a year and a half! Pam?' Piper turned round to see that her niece was gone, 'Aw… Damn!'

The baby monitor began to sound with Chris's screams; Piper put down the towel and began to walk out of the kitchen, knowing that he probably just woke up from his nap. But the crying stopped abruptly, as if someone had turned off the monitor.

'Chris!' Piper shouted, running through the dining room and bounding up the stairs, meeting Pamela who was coming out of her room. They ran into the boy's room to find three darklighters surrounding the little boy's crib, ready to plunge a poison arrow into his chest, instead of shooting it.

Both Halliwells went into action, Piper blew up one of the lighters and Pamela lifted a heavy shelf with her mind and threw it at the two remaining demons. One of the darklighters smoked a crossbow into their hands, firing at the witches, but Pam stopped the arrow in mid air and threw it back telekinetically, vanquishing the being. The final threat dark orbed out, but Piper knew that he hadn't retreated,

'Pam, get Chris,' Pamela nodded at this instruction and went over to her wailing cousin, before being threw back into Piper by an unknown force. The darklighter appeared again, with an evil grin on his face,

'Say goodnight, kid,' he smirked, that was the last thing he said before being blown into a million pieces by the combined effort of the boy's mother and cousin.

Pamela sighed and helped her aunt to her feet, 'Just another day in the Halliwell household…'

* * *

Emma sat doodling on her class roster at the desk in her classroom, it had been an hour since she had dismissed her final class, but she really wasn't in the mood to go home. The sisters had wanted answers from her, mainly about how she ended up with a second chance, but they also began to ask questions about her first life and how she died. 

Emma hadn't wanted to share details; she could remember the explosion at the Naxcon building, the one that had taken her life.

_She had to run, the building would give way soon and plunge into the icy water below, Shalimar ran ahead of the rest of them, her powers letting her move more quickly and freely than the rest of them, especially her dad and Adam._

_A large shift of the building sent all of them to the floor, the tremors began to worsen as the explosion began to claim other parts of the company. The floor ripped apart from beneath them, leaving Mutant X to hold on for dear life, or plunge to their doom_

Shal had been the only one to find her since then; she remembered when they met up. Shalimar was in the underworld doing what she did best, killing demons, when Emma had come along wanting to the same thing! They noticed each other and went into fits of hysterical weeping! She smiled at the memory, toying with the idea of summoning her friend from where ever she was. A knocking at her door interrupted her thoughts, Grant was in the doorway.

'Hey,' he took a step in, waiting for a signal to move closer

'Hi, come in…' she wheeled her chair out from under her desk, 'How did you get here?'

'Oh, Aidan's looking for Paige, he brought me here as a test run for my sanding,'

'Sanding?'

Instead of responding, Grant squeezed his eyes closed, sand slowly began to appear from the ground and envelop him. The sand dispersed and grew into another tower behind Emma, the sand disappeared and Grant stood there.

'Wow! Pretty good!' Emma clapped with a grin on her face.

'Thanks,' he took a bow and laughed.

White lights swirled in a spot on the floor, disappearing and taking the form of Pamela, who was oblivious to the flirtatious banter part of Emma and Grant's relationship that she had just interrupted.

'Hey, Aunt Piper wants you home,' she said, delivering the message,

'Why? What's wrong?' she walked towards her student

'Darklighters almost impaled Chris on one of their arrows,' Emma's eyes widened, 'Don't worry! We took care of it for now! But they'll probably be back,'

Emma sighed, just the though of that sweet little boy getting an arrow through his chest sent a shiver down her spine, 'Okay… I just need to wrap some stuff up here then I'll be back,'

Pamela nodded and pulled a potion out of pocket, throwing it to the ground and disappearing in the same white lights she had arrived in.

Emma turned back to Grant, 'I'll see you later, okay?' he nodded and sighed as she left the classroom.

* * *

'Are you sure this is a good idea?' Piper looked around worryingly. 

'Look, I don't like this either, butPaige is theonly one who can get to the bottom of this!'

The four witches stood in the attic, now discussing their plan of attack, or rather stealth. The plan was to use Pamela's newly created power glamouring potion to make Paige's powers look evil, she would then infiltrate the darklighter group and find out who had ordered the attack on Chris.

'But how do we even know that we're dealing with a faction?' Emma asked, as she helped Pamela with her glamouring potion.

'Well, in my experience, one's a demon, three's a group,' Paige replied

'And these guys knew what they were doing,' Pamela went over the Book Of Shadows, 'These weren't just some lighters trying to make a name for themselves with a random attack,'

A dazzle of lights appeared, taking on the from of Leo who was holding a box in his hand.

'Are these what you guys were looking for?' he opened the box, revealing two blood red crystals.

'Perfect!' Paige went over to him, taking the box from him and examining the crystals.

'What are those?' Pamela stopped looking through the book to look up

'These, my dear niece, are Ronyx crystals!' she waved the gems excitedly, 'If I have one, and you have one, we'll always be in contact!'

Piper turned to her husband while Paige gloated in her own idea, 'I want you to take Chris to Magic School,' she nodded towards the silent toddler in the playpen, And keep Wyatt and him there until I say so,'

'Okay, I'll leave them with Mrs Winterbourne,'

'No, I want you to stay there too,'

'What? Honey, when someone tries to kill my children I want to do everything to stop them!' he exclaimed

'And when we're up against someone who can take out everyone in this family with whitelighter genes, I want to protect them! Leo… please… I don't want to lose you,' he took a deep breath and picked up his youngest son, orbing out silently.

'Oh sure!' Piper turned to see what her sister was saying, 'You wanna protect your family, but you have no problem about sending your half whitelighter sister into the lions den!'

Piper smirked, 'You're the one who wanted to do this, not me,'

There was a loud bang from the table signifying that the potion was ready, Pamela came back over to bottle her creation,

'If this works, you get an A,' Emma told her with a smile.

Paige looked at the dark blue potion warily before downing it; she opened her eyes cautiously to make sure she was still in one piece.

'Did it work?'

'I dunno, try orbing,' Piper offered. Paige nodded and disappeared in a flurry of purple and black orbs.

'It worked!' Pamela squealed and clapped her hands, 'Try to conjure a crossbow!'

Paige began to think of what whitelighter power was the equivalent to a darklighter power. She remembered and tried to access her healing power, but got a crossbow instead.

'Wow! Pretty cool!' she waved it about, making the others back away

'Careful!'Emma hissed, 'You've still got whitelighter blood! You mess with that thing without the safety on and it'll kill you!'

'Not to mention my husband and sons!' Piper added

Paige rolled her eyes and made the crossbow disappear. The fun was about to begin.

* * *

Paige appeared in a swirl of black orbs, looking around nervously. She remembered that she was doing this for her nephews so she stayed calm and began to walk towards the cave entrance. Just as her hand touched the large handle on the colossal iron door, five darklighters orbed in, crossbows ready to fire. 

'Who are you?' the middle one moved closer but kept his crossbow raised.

'Uh…' she pondered for a moment, 'That… doesn't matter, all that matters is that I heard this was the place for a darklighter to be these days,'

'Oh yeah? What's your source?'

'Well gee! I don't know!' she responded sarcastically, 'Maybe it was because I saw that pathetic attempt on the Charmed One's kid's life, and I thought I would help you improve,' she smirked confidently.

The darklighters looked at each other before the middle one responded, 'What makes you think you'll do any better?'

'Trust me, I'm not your average darklighter,'

The darklighters conferred again, 'What clan are you from?'

'Clan?' the clicking of crossbows could be heard, they were ready to fire as soon as the wrong answer fell out of her mouth. Paige tried to stay calm and confident, but decided to just charge in!

She took two athames out of her back pockets, throwing them at the darklighters on either side of them and vanquishing them instantly. The two that were next to the leader let loose with a barrage of poisonous arrows, Paige was consumed in a cloud of black orbs and reappeared behind one of the darklighters, slitting his throat with another athame, then repeating the process other the other daklighter. Only the leader remained, Paige kicked the crossbow out of his hands with one of her Judo moves and sent him to the floor. Still trying to keep her real identity a secret, she finally answered his question,

'I'm not going to speak of my clan in front of a hopeless warrior such asyourself!' she dropped the bloodstained athame on his chest and left him shocked as she opened the iron door with her powers.

* * *

'Is it me, or is she enjoying this a little too much?' Piper asked, after watching the battle on the projection that the Ronyx crystal was creating on the wall. 

Emma stood at the book, 'Well, she's just playing the part. Demons stab each other in the back all the time so she's doing what she has to do,' she looked through the pages of the Halliwell book in front of her.

'What are you looking for?'

Emma replied without looking up, 'That darklighter said something about clans, so maybe there's something in here,'

They stood in silence, the only sound that could be heard was the occasional rustling of the pages in the Book Of Shadows being turned. Emma took a deep breath and spoke,

'It was two years ago…' Piper looked up with wide eyes while Emma looked distant, 'My line of work was pretty dangerous… if you were part of my team; the chances were that you would go down fighting. Anyway, the mission turned sour, and the place was brought down around our ears in an explosion and… I didn't make it…' she looked back down and kept flipping.

Piper dared to try and continue, 'What's the last thing you remember before you were reborn?'

Emma looked back up, 'I remember the heat of the flames… the coldness of when I sank into the water below… There was this beautiful bright light, it was everywhere! And there was a voice that told me that my destiny wasn't over yet and that I was being given a second chance for a reason, and well...you've seen and lived most of the rest,'

Pamela came back in with a grin on her face, 'Okay! I've made more vanquishing… potions,' she had paused in mid sentence after seeing the awkward silence, looking between the two she slowly went back to the Ronyx crystal but not before saying, 'Foot. In mouth. Gotcha,'

* * *

Paige finally made through the labyrinth of tunnels that had been after the door. The dim light of torches brightened the area slightly; enough to see that other darklighters populated the area, talking in whispers. One of them noticed Paige and walked over to her, he had short black hair and a three day old stubble, as he got closer she could see that he had dark brown eyes. He was the sort of guy that Paige would have fell for years ago, the rugged look would make her gaga. He shuffled slightly, trying to make the crossbow on his back a little more comfortable to carry. 

After kissing her hand, he spoke, 'And how is it that such a beautiful fallen angel like yourself has graced these caverns with her presence?'

It was official, the Paige of five years ago would be in love at this point, the present Paige wasn't too far off either as she had to keep saying Aidan's name in her head every five seconds.

'I take ityou're the leader?' she said with a suggestive eye brow raise and a smirk, 'I hope those weren't your best guys at the door, I vanquished most of them,'

He smiled, 'Of course not, although my best men aren't much better… But why do I have a feeling my luck's changing?'

'Maybe because it is,' Paige smiled back, 'You want the Charmed Ones children? I can help you get them,'

'How so?'

'Well, like I said to your people outside, I'm not your average darklighter. For instance, Torch!' she called for the flaming wood that was attached to the wall. It disappeared in a haze of dark orbs, reappearing in Paige's hand in the same way.

The darklighter raised his eyebrows, 'Impressive! You're hired!'

Paige looked surprised, 'Just like that?'

'You obviously have some…' he looked her up and down, 'Talents that this organisation could benefit from. Come! Let me show you around!' he was about to put his arm around her shoulder, when he stopped in mid gesture. Paige looked around to see that all the other darklighters in the room were frozen too.

'Having fun?' Piper's voice came from the shadows, her hands were outstretched and Pamela and Emma were behind her

Paige rolled her eyes, 'What are you guys doing here? What would you have did if he hadn't frozen?'

'Is he the leader?' Emma asked, Paige nodded

'Then what are we waiting for? Let's blow his ass up and send him to hell!' Pamela made a gesture, but it was intercepted by Piper pushing her hands down.

'Easy! We don't know what kind of powers this guy has! He might not go boom so easily!'

'Why are you guys here?' Paige put her hands on her hips, wanting this over before her cover was blown.

'To give you these,' Emma stepped forward and handed her vials, 'The green ones are vanquishing potions, and the blue ones are top ups for the power glamouring potion.

'Alright! Thank you! Goodbye! Manor!' she made a gesture while saying the last word, making the others return home in a large mass of black orbs.

Paige quickly got back into position just as the darklighter unfroze, 'Let's go and see about getting you a uniform,'

* * *

'Wow!' Pamela looked at the projection, 'She looks really evil now!' she pointed to Paige on the transparent screen. She was now wearing a slanted skirt that started at the middle of her left thigh and slanted down to just past her right knee. The leather boots that she had been given had steel on the toecaps, the glossy leather shining in the dim light of fire. And to top it off, she was wearing a one-sleeve shirt; the left side only had a spaghetti strap to hold it up. All of it was black, but was complimented by the brown strap of the crossbow holster that she now wore on her back. 

'Yeah, I just hope she doesn't get carried away,' Piper paced the room, not watching the scene unfold.

* * *

'You look even more beautiful than before,' Hades said, that was the darklighters name. 

'Thank you…' she pulled out her crossbow at lightning speed, aiming it at him, 'It's a lot easier than conjuring it…'

'Yes,' he circled her, laying his hands on her arms and whispering in her ear, 'A hunter needs to be quick… if he is to catch his prey…' he began to nuzzle into her neck.

'And what am I in that analogy?' she asked

'For now… the prey,' this came as a great surprise to Paige, who retaliated by ducking down and sweeping his legs, making him fall to the ground, then sitting on chest.

'You sure about that?' she said with a smirk

He grabbed her arms forcefully and pulled her down, kissing her roughly but passionately. He pushed her back and said, 'Let's go hunting,' before orbing the two of them out.

* * *

'What? Where did they just go?' Pamela stood up, the projection had went fuzzy 

'The only that could have happened, is if she's deactivated it herself…' Emma said with dread in her voice.

'A little side a effect to your potion?' Piper asked her niece angrily

'Ugh! Forget about that! We need to find her!' Pamela quickly got out the scrying tools and began the search for her evil aunt.

* * *

The young woman was thrown into the side of the dumpster forcefully, she struggled to get up and tried to run away. Paige stood with her arm out stretched, she had obviously sent the woman into the dumpster with a telekinetic blast. Hades stood and watched with lust burning in his eyes. 

The woman had almost got away until Paige dark orbed in front of her and delivered another telekinetic blast, this time, throwing her into a brick wall. She whimpered as she got up, now crying and not understanding how her attacker kept throwing her like this.

'Please…' she whispered

Paige pulled out her crossbow, 'Quit your snivelling! That's not how a future whitelighter should behave,' she smirked as she pulled the trigger, sending an arrow whizzing through the air and making a beeline for the young woman. It was inches away from her heart when it froze in mid air. Paige spun round to see Piper, Pamela and Emma standing behind her with betrayed looks on their faces.

'My, my, my, my… You guys have impeccable timing,' she smirked and walked over to Hades, who put an arm around her waist.

'Paige! Have you lost your mind?' Piper exclaimed

'I believe she's chosen…' Hades responded

'Why don't you stay out of this?' Piper gestured towards him, but the blast just bounced off his chest. She was about to fire again, when an arrow whirred past her ear, hitting a wall behind her and narrowly missing the oldest Halliwell. Paige stood with an empty crossbow,

'Back off Piper! Next time, I won't miss,' the two dark orbed out and narrowly missed Pamela sending the frozen arrow flying at them.

The three remaining witches approached the innocent, who had fainted due to all the events and helped her up.

They had nowhere to turn…

* * *

Okay, I know the storyline is different from the summary in the previous chapter, but I liked this idea!

NEXT TIME: Due to Paige's shift in morality, the balance is upset and causes the real evil Paige to become good! In the hopes of restoring their sisters, a shaky alliance is made between the two Pipers, who then go after Hades…

Chapter 34 'Witch Swap Part 2' will be up soon!


	34. Witch Swap Part 2

Pyrena – Yeah, Piper's going to be pretty angry for a while, but she'll get over it! And 'Witch Swap' was originally going to be one chapter, but I like Evil Paige so I made a two parter! And trust me, Aidan's out for blood now, Hades won't last long!

Princess Pinky – No need to be jealous! Your titles spur me to do great things! You are my official muse lol! And I can't wait until Chapter 36 either! Shal's return, Connor's birth, it's going to be a great chapter! I'll probably ask the reviewer what their favourite chapter has been after chapter 36, it'll be the two finales after that! And after this chapter, you'll see that no one messes with Aidan Parker!

Andy20 – Hi! Long time no see! And the two Pipers are going to be a force to be reckoned with! But don't judge the counterparts yet; they're not what they seem…

Piperfairy – LOL! Don't you just love her dark side? And she may have forgotten about Aidan, but he certainly hasn't forgotten about her!

Aniaka – LOL! That would be wacky! And Aidan has gone straight past pissed and right to blinded by love and rage, you'll see what I mean in this chapter! And I agree about Emma, her defences were always up because of her powers, but since she's so like Phoebe, the sister are used to this kind of behaviour and have made her open up a bit! I can't wait to read your fan fic! If it's even as half as good as your reviews, then it'll be popular!

Wyatt halliwell – The best? Well, this chapter might top it! And Connor will be brought into the world soon… I can't believe how close I am to finishing this story!

ANNOUNCEMENT: As this story has six chapters left after this one, I'd like to know what your favourite chapter was! Phoebe's miscarriage? The discovery of Pamela? Prue's return? The death of Lexa's friend Marty? When Phoebe and Brennan got together?Well have your say and tell me in your review! 

**Witch Swap Part 2**

'What did you see?' Evil Piper asked her equally malevolent sister

Phoebe's eyes returned from their blank white state, 'It's the same as it was when we left… If we don't find a way to get their powers soon then…'

'I know! I know…' Piper paced the cave, taking a glance at her baby sister, who they had trapped in a crystal cage because of her unusual behaviour. Their sister had begun to develop a conscience, which was strange on its own! But when she had gone to save an innocent, she had orbed out in white lights!

What about the sisters topside, how are they doing?'

Phoebe sighed from her meditating spot, 'What am I? A spy cam? My seeing powers have a lot more uses than that!'

'So you keep reminding me. Just do it! They're probably responsible for whatever has happened to Paige,' she nodded towards their usually evil sister, who was trying to orb out of the cage with no luck, 'Those crystals are blessed with our blood, your blood! You won't be getting out anytime soon,'

Paige glared at her, 'Our blood?' she scoffed, 'You call yourself my sisters, yet you're keeping me here against my own will! There's some love for ya!'

Piper rolled her eyes, 'You're staying in there until I can figure out a way to fix you.' She turned to her other sister, 'You got anything?'

Her eyes went back to normal, 'No… I can't see them, they must be at Magic School,'

* * *

Piper blew up an empty crate in frustration, growling impatiently as Emma and Pamela poured over the many books of the library.

'Stop doing that!' Emma raised her head swiftly from the book she was reading; 'Your nerves and frustration are killing me over here!'

Piper spun around in a challenging way, 'Just shut them out then! You're the all powerful telempath! I'm surprised you can't pull it off!'

The psychic stood up, 'Look Piper, I know you're angry right now, but taking it out on us and school property isn't going to help!' she said with a raised voice.

She was about to respond, but then took a deep breath, 'Sorry… What have you got?'

'Well…' Pamela looked up, 'I'm working on a reversal-,'

'Oh no! You're not doing this! You're the reason we're in this mess!' Emma gaped at her usually docile friend as Pamela's confidence came crashing down, Emma could feel it.

'Piper… To be fair, I'm the Head of Potions and I didn't realise there was going to be a side effect,' she huffed in response and stormed off towards the nursery. Emma went over to her student, sensing the devastation that she was feeling.

'She's never going to trust me with magic again, is she?' she whispered

Emma sighed, 'Pam… You're a powerful and talented witch, just like your mother. It's just hard for Piper to admit that you could do anything wrong when it comes to magic,'

'You think so?'

'Trust me…' she tapped her chest, 'I know,' Pamela smiled and breathed, 'Okay, you keep working on that reversal, while I go talk to your passive aggressive aunt!' she walked down the corridor.

* * *

Aidan splashed into yet another dark cave. He had heard everything about Paige from the others had had been hunting down every darklighter he could find, once he found Hades, he would tear him to shreds.

He quickly raised his hand, encasing an incoming poison arrow in ice. He then made a gesture with his hand and raised his attacker into the air with a tower of water.

'Water pressure is a dangerous thing…' Aidan made a fist and the water surrounding the cowardly darklighter constricted him to the point where he could hardly breathe, 'The darklighter Hades and his new lady friend… Where are they?'

The being gasped for air, 'I… I'd rather die than tell you!' he spat

Aidan sighed and tightened his fist, 'You know, if I increase the water pressure anymore, your head will fly off like a cork in a wine bottle,' he said darkly

'Alright! Alright! Alright! I'll tell you! The last time I saws them, they was in Den Of Fallen Angels! That's all I knows! I swear!'

Aidan eyed him warily, before letting him out of the watery grasp and making him fall hard on the floor. The darklighter got up and prepared to orb out,

'Ah… Screw it,' Aidan created a sharp icicle in his hand and threw it, impaling the darklighter and vanquishing him. He could hear clapping coming from the shadows as two figures emerged from the darkness,

'I'm surprised anyone on your side is that ruthless,' Evil Piper appeared with Phoebe behind her. Aidan conjured a large glowing icicle before Piper raised her hand, 'Hold your fire, Diver Dan, we want to talk to you,'

'Well…' Phoebe stepped in, 'Not so much you as the sisters on your side,' he looked from one to the other. Phoebe rolled her eyes, 'Tell them to meet us at the bridge in an hour, and that we're their only hope of saving Paige,' the two slinked back into the shadows and disappeared, leaving Aidan at a loss for words.

* * *

Emma walked into the nursery to find Piper sitting on a chair watching her children play. She pulled a stool over and sat down, hoping that Piper would talk first but after a while, she just decided to say it.

'Phoebe?'

Piper looked at her with red eyes, 'Would you stay out of my mind please?'

'I'm trying, but your feelings of abandonment and loss are so strong that they're hard to ignore!' she put her hand on Piper's, 'Talk to me,'

She sighed and looked down at her hands, 'It's just… Ever since Phoebe left, I've had to lean on Paige for so many things! And it's been a complete roller coaster this past year and a half… with you and Pam… Phoebe and Paige were always the super witches, I'd take the lead every now and again but usually I'd just have to read when they stuck a spell under my nose… but now even Paige is gone, and I don't know what to do.'

Emma laughed sympathetically, 'Piper, you're selling yourself short! You take control in almost every situation and we kick a lot of ass! And we're going to get Paige back, and Phoebe will be home soon… You just need to stay strong,'

Piper scrunched up her face and began to cry,

'Phoebe… I miss her so much,' Emma was silent and wrapped her arms around her hurting friend, stroking the back of her head.

'You can do this… We can do this,' she whispered.

Aidan appeared in a tower of water, interrupting the bonding between the two. Emma grimaced as soon as she saw him.

'Where have you been? After we told you about Paige you splashed out of here so fast that I thought you had evaporated!'

Aidan delivered the message from the Evil Charmed Ones, 'We need to talk,'

* * *

Piper, Emma, Pamela and Aidan stood on the top of the bridge, surrounded by a glowing blue force field. They weren't going to take any chances with this meeting, as they knew that is was extremely risky to be doing this.

Pamela glanced at Aidan, 'You look like you've been to hell and back,'

He replied without looking at her, 'That's because I have…'

The area in front of them began to distort as Piper and Phoebe shimmered in with their demon escorts.

'Don't even bother trying anything,' Piper warned from inside the shield, 'Only the Power Of Three can break through this,'

Her counterpart rolled her eyes, 'Oh please, you should know that we don't just charge into a fight, we don't do that!' she pointed back and forth between herself and Piper.

'You wanted to talk?' Emma said coldly, 'Then talk.'

'Well, aren't you right to the point,' Phoebe smirked

'Not always, I just don't want to waste my time talking to you,' Emma smiled back innocently,

'Bet you wouldn't be so bold if you weren't cowering behind that shield!'

'Likewise! Could you have any more demons protecting you?'

'That enough!' both Pipers said in unison.

'As I was about to say…' Evil Piper glared at her sister, 'Has your Paige been acting… strange lately?'

'You called us up here for that?' Piper responded, 'What's it to you?'

'Because ours is acting an awful like yours,' she nodded to one of the demons, who pulled out a Ronyx crystal and it began to show a projection of Paige trapped in a crystal cage, desperately trying to escape with white orbs! The projection disappeared and Piper began to talk,

'A darklighter took her,' she replied with a shaky voice, 'I guess her change in morality affected your sister too,'

Evil Piper put her hands on her hips, 'A darklighter?' she looked as if she was thinking, then came to a realization, 'Hades? Ugh… He's been trying to get enough power to challenge us for power,' she ran a hand through her hair and turned to her sister, 'He's becoming a liability,'

Phoebe nodded, 'But we don't have the power to take him down without Paige,'

Piper turned to the good guys that were in the shield, 'Maybe… But if there's more of us…'

Piper was the first to catch on, 'It is our only option to get both of our sisters back…'

'Wait a minute…' Pamela whispered in her ear, 'Please don't say you're thinking what I think you're thinking!'

Piper ignored her, 'Send the demons away and we'll lower the shield,'

'Deal,' her counterpart nodded at the demons, who shimmered away as the shield wavered and disappeared.

The twp Pipers walked up to each other, 'Truce?' the evil one held out her hand

Piper looked hesitant, before shaking her counterpart's hand, 'Truce,'

* * *

Paige stood from the balcony, watching all the crafting demons making more weapons for the faction.

'What do you think? Impressive, isn't it?' Hades came up behind her, rubbing her shoulders.

'Everything is so organised… Perfect for taking out my sister,' she smirked and turned around.

He pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and kissed her roughly, but in the current stage that Paige was in, she enjoyed it.

'So…' he cupped her check with his hand, 'Do you have a plan?'

She nodded slowly, 'We'll draw them out, fight them on our turf, not theirs,'

'I trust you completely… What do you need?'

She pulled a piece of paper from her pocket, 'Nothing, I should be able to send a premonition to my niece with this. They'll think that we're not expecting them, but really… we'll be ready for them,'

'Perfect…' he brushed her cheek again before kissing her passionately.

* * *

Emma helped the two Pipers in the kitchen as they made vanquishing potions for the many darklighters that they would probably run into.

'It's doesn't matter how hard you stare at me, I'm not going to burst into flames,' Evil Piper said to the redhead,

'I'm just trying to get a fix on you, that's all,' Emma replied defensively,

'Whatever…'

Pamela walked in with a sigh, 'Aidan splashed out again…'

'What? Damn!' Piper slammed her hands on the table

'Is the spell ready?' Piper's counterpart asked coldly

The young Halliwell shot her a glare, 'Almost… Your sister's putting the finishing touches on it,'

She nodded in response and went to the book to check the next potion ingredient, but the pages glowed and book closed, flying into Pamela's hands as soon as Evil Piper had went near it.

'Guess the Book doesn't like you…' she smirked and put the book down next to her aunt, who was currently mixing a potion on the island in the kitchen.

'I'll be in the living room,' the counterpart said before walking out the kitchen and slamming the door shut.

'Wow, you really do not like them, do you?' Emma stood up from her chair and addressed Pamela.

'Well, it's like I always say, once a demon…' she dropped some powder into the potion, making it erupt with a loud bang, '… Always a demon,'

'Who cares?' Piper said impatiently, 'I have to finalize stuff at the club tonight to I would really like to save and then bitch at my sister for turning evil before I have to go,'

'Scheduling a sister saving?' Pamela snorted, 'There's organised!'

'Yeah, and I would also like to be home in time to read my children a bedtime… Wyatt!' Piper ran out of the kitchen, realising that Wyatt was upstairs and probably with her evil counterpart! The three of them rushed upstairs and into Wyatt's room, to find him in the arms of Evil Piper.

'Get away from him!' Piper spat

'Piper… He's not got his shield up!' Emma whispered in disbelief

'I don't care! Put him down!'

Her counterpart gave Wyatt a longing stare before gently returning him to the floor and walking out of the room.

'Relax. I wouldn't hurt him… Technically, he's my son as well,'

Emma, Piper and Pamela stood gaping, until Pamela went to pick up her little cousin,

'If you ask me, I think we caught her just in time,' she said viciously

'I'm not so sure… When she was holding him I got the weirdest hit off her,' Emma replied, walking over to the teenager, 'It was almost the same as your feelings earlier,' so looked at Piper.

'What are you trying to say?' Piper asked defensively

'I don't know… I am just not sure that they're so evil, that's all,'

Pamela looked as if she was deep in thought until her face grew dark, 'Take Wyatt.'

'What?'

'Take him!' she shouted, handing her cousin over to the psionic,

She was breathing heavily, until she gasped loudly, signalling that she was witnessing a future event.

_A little boy, no older than eight was running down a dark alley. How he had got there was a complete mystery but he was obviously scared out of his wits! Paige and Hades appeared out of the fog, both with malicious grins on their faces._

_'No where to run, you little brat!' Paige smirked and laughed manically; the boy was cornered and crying hysterically, 'Good night…' Paige smiled, 'And don't let the bed bugs bite!' with that, she telekinetically threw a sharp piece of metal that was sitting on the ground, it flew right at the boy and pierced his chest, killing him painfully and instantly._

The vision ended and Pamela had tears streaming down her face, traumatized at what she had just witnessed. Emma was reacting the same way; she had felt the raw emotions that had been in the premonition. Piper quickly took Wyatt from her friend as she collapsed to the floor along with her niece.

* * *

'I can't believe you two are suggesting this!'

'You don't have any idea about what I felt and what Pam saw! Do you really think I want to kill my best friend?'

'I don't know! And that's what's scares me!'

Piper sat in a chair in the living room with her arms crossed challengingly while Pamela and Emma were trying to convince her to prepare for the worst. The counterparts sat in the sunroom, Phoebe meditating and concentrating on finding Paige as soon as she resurfaced and Piper was attempting summon Aidan as he was ignoring their calls.

'Piper… I felt the pleasure she got from that kill and I felt the sheer terror of that little boy! If our plan doesn't work then we'll need to stop her one way or the other,'

She shook her head, refusing to accept that she might need to vanquish her sister.

Her counterpart walked in with Aidan behind her, 'Found water boy,'

'Good! At least I have someone on my side now!' Piper spat

'What's going on?' he asked, completely oblivious

'They…' she gestured wildly at Emma and Pamela, 'Are trying to convince me to kill Paige!'

'We are not!' Pamela responded childishly, 'Do you really think I want to kill one of my aunts after knowing them for just six months? But if I need to make a choice between her and the life of a seven year old then I won't hesitate!'

'I found her,' Evil Phoebe's voice came from the other room.

Everyone stood up, but Aidan blocked their way,

'If I have to make a choice between killing you to protect Paige, or killing Paige to protect you, I won't hesitate,'

* * *

Everyone was walking through the damp alley that Pamela had saw in her vision, Aidan had been their mode of transportation since Leo was at Magic School and the two Paige's weren't in a cooperating mood.

'This isn't right…' Pamela said, 'Maybe we have the wrong alley?'

'We don't.' Phoebe said flatly, 'She's here… somewhere,'

Both Pipers brought up the rear, looking at every dark corner suspiciously before moving on,

'Just so we're clear…' Piper began, 'We go back to being enemies once this is over.'

Evil Piper smirked, 'I wouldn't have it any other way,'

They walked silently for a while, until Piper spoke again,

'Just out of curiosity, why do you want to kill us? If you really are our counterparts, wouldn't it mean that…'

'If you die, we die? No, it's goes a lot deeper than that, we need your power.'

'But why? You can easily take over the underworld with your own powers,'

Evil Piper stopped in her tracks and turned around, 'What makes you think we want the underworld? We need the underworld behind us, that's all. We don't want joint leadership,'

'So what do you want?'

'I'll tell you once you vanquish me.'

The group continued to walk along the alley until reached a dead end, which made no sense to Pamela as hadn't seen a dead end in her premonition,

'We've been tricked…' she said in realization.

'Yes, you have…' everyone spun around to see that Paige and Hades were standing in their way, blocking them off. Aidan clenched his fists, fighting back every bone in his body that was telling him to take that darklighter apart for taking advantage of Paige.

Pamela immediately threw the potion that would cure her aunt, but Paige pulled her crossbow out at lightning speed and fired at the vial, causing it to shatter when it came in contact with the arrow.

'My aim's got a little better,' she smirked. As she said that, about twelve darklighters appeared together in a cluster of black orbs.

'Fire!' Hades shouted, they all obeyed and a flurry of arrows flew at the group! But all of them were stopped, some encased in ice, and some had just stopped in mid air, the two Pipers stood with their hands outstretched, they had been the ones to stop the assault.

'Phoebe, let's go,' Evil Piper said, fading out and using her invisibility, Phoebe nodded to where her sister had stood and flew towards the darklighters with her levitating power.

'Alright, Pam and Emma, you get Paige and I'll,' Piper was cut off

'No…' Aidan growled, staring Hades in the eye, 'That bastard is mine,'

Piper knew better than to argue with him when he was like this and assumed her invisible form to take on her sister.

* * *

The Evil Charmed Ones were taking care of all the darklighters with unbelievable ease. Phoebe grabbed onto one's shoulders and spun around, kicking every close enough darklighter right in face! After that, Piper would become visible and blow them up. One made a run at the middle Halliwell; he had now thrown his crossbow to the ground, as his comrades seemed to have fallen because of its overuse.

'Oh please…' Phoebe rolled her eyes, sending a mental blast of black energy at the darklighter, vanquishing him, 'Never charge a Charmed One… Evil or not!'

Piper lost her temper with the evil beings throwing themselves at her and smacked the ground with her fist, opening up a fissure and sending all of the darklighters to the core of the earth.

'Just like old times…'

* * *

'Emma look out!' Pamela jumped on her teacher, sending her to the floor just in time to dodge out of the way of an arrow that had been fired by Paige. The young witch got up, infuriated, Alright! I've had enough of that thing!' she flicked her wrists and the crossbow shattered into a million pieces. She then threw her arm out diagonally and sent her aunt flying into the wall.

Emma supported herself with one arm as she tried to stand up. An arrow had already grazed her right arm and she wasn't in the mood for it to happen again,

'Paige! I know that the real you is in there!' she boomed at the recovering witch, 'And I'm going to remind you whether you like or not!' Emma began to use her telempathy to tap into Paige true feelings. Happiness, sadness, laughter, love… Emma bombarded her with memories and emotions until it was time.

'Piper! Now!' she shouted

The oldest Halliwell reappeared, fumbling with a piece of paper, 'Uh… Uh… Oh! Here we go!'

'Hurry!' Emma shouted.

Piper nodded and began to say the spell

'Open Paige's heart of reveal,

The part that only Emma feels,

Send it back from whence it came,

But don't protect her from the pain!'

Pink lights began to flutter out of Emma chest, slowly making their way over to Paige who was just getting up from Pamela's telekinetic attack. The light entered Paige's body and she fell back slightly, blinking a few times before realising what was going on.

'Emma? Piper? What's going on?' she looked around with a confused look

'You don't remember?' Piper walked over to her.

'Yeah, I remember… But I'm just seeing things differently,' she looked over to her right and her eyes widened, 'Aidan!'

* * *

Aidan threw another flurry of icicles at the fleeing darklighter. The frozen water pierced the brick wall as Hades dodged and threw out an energy ball, which, thanks to Aidan's elemental status, bounced off his chest harmlessly. The elemental held up his hand towards Hades, a cold blue glow emitting from his palm as Hades began to freeze from his feet upwards.

'No!' he screamed as the ice devoured his head

Aidan then made a series of gestures, making large sharp icicles appear above the Hades ice statue and circle it. He brought his arms down swiftly and the icicles flew at the frozen darklighter, shattering the demon into millions of pieces of bloodstained ice.

Paige walked slowly towards Aidan as he recovered from what he had just done by breathing heavily.

'Aidan, I…'

She didn't finish. Aidan turned round and stared at her, his eyes filled to the brim with hurt and betrayal. He splashed out wordlessly and left Paige speechless. The whitelighter/witch hybrid dropped to her knees.

'He knows…'

Emma dropped to her level and put an arm around her shoulders, 'Knows what?'

'… That I slept with Hades,'

* * *

God… I love it when I surprise myself! Its so refreshing lol! Anyway, press the purple button and tell me what you think of that shocking ending!

NEXT TIME: Pamela decides to help Jenna finally get over her past by going back to it, along with Zack and Leo as their guardians. This leaves Piper and Emma to do more research into the counterparts, which leads to more questions and Paige tries desperately to fix her relationship with Aidan, although it may already be too late… 

Chapter 35 'The Ghost Of Darkness Past' will be up soon!


	35. The Ghost Of Darkness Past

Andy20 – Aha! You'll need to wait till 'United As Three' to find out what they want! Thanks for reviewing!

Prince Halliwell – Yeah, I thought the two of them working together would be good, since the two Pipers in the Season 6 finale never got to meet each other! And I have different plans for the P & P finale; it involves Aidan and more of his secrets!

Piperfairy – Your questions will be answered in the final chapters of this story, or in 'United As Three'. And this chapter is quite interesting (I think) but I think the next one will top it!

Princess Pinky – LOL! Look! I updated! I've been off school with the flu so I've had time to write more! And yes! She did sleep with him! But the aftermath is in this chapter so read on! And I think the next chapter will be your fave!

Unique deflection – Hi! I'm glad you liked it! And I'm sorry; I just love writing cliffies lol! I hope you review again!

Aniaka – No! lol, Paige and Aidan will survive this! Don't worry! What's coming however… And thanks! I thought the way he killed Hades showed how angry he was! And I can't wait to know what your fave chapter is! I love my get feedback lol!

**The Ghost Of Darkness Past**

'That has to be the worst movie I've seen this year!'

'Really? I thought it was okay,'

'Yeah, that's because you're a girl! If you guys weren't constantly hitting me I would have fell asleep.'

'Oh, c'mon Zach, you loved it! Just admit it!'

Pamela, Jenna and Zach walked out of the movies. The summer had now properly begun since the wacky weather was over and the three teens could see the sunset just behind the Golden Gate Bridge. Late nights, warm days, this was Pamela's favourite time of year. Mainly because when she was living with her last foster parents, the late nights were an excuse for her to stay out late instead of going home.

'The next time we go to he movies, I'm picking what we're seeing,' Zach proclaimed

'Oh really?' Pamela looked at Jenna with a smirk on her face,

'Well, if we didn't like it you'd be sitting alone! That would be pretty sad, Lockhart!' Jenna teased.

'Ugh… I'm so outnumbered,' he gave a deflated response.

Pamela laughed, but then her face grew dark, 'And so is she!' Jenna and Zach looked down the direction that Pamela was pointing in and saw a young woman being dragged into an alley by an unknown force, 'C'mon!' the three of them ran along the sidewalk and bolted into the alley to find the woman about to be slaughtered by two demons with large axes! They had red skin and tribal markings covered their faces.

'Hey!' Zack caught their attention by firing a telepathic blast at one while Pamela threw the other into the wall with her telekinesis.

'Jenna! C'mon!' Pamela urged, but Jenna just stood on the spot shaking her head vigorously, 'Jenna?' but she kept shaking her head and then she ran off back to the street, 'Jenna!' Pamela shouted after her.

'Uh… Pam? A little help here please!' Pamela turned around to see Zach and the innocent being cornered by the demons. With an aggressive wave of her arm, she sent the two demons flying in different direction. Wisely, the two evil beings shimmered out. Zack fired a telepathic blast at the woman and took away her memory of the last few moments.

'What happened to Jenna?'

Pamela looked down the direction her friend had run in, 'I don't know,'

* * *

Piper yawned as she walked down the stairs, squinting her eyes against the sunlight that was streaming in all the windows of the ground floor in the Halliwell Manor. She shuffled into the dining room and headed for the kitchen, until she saw her niece sitting at the table with the Book Of Shadows and a large axe.

'Pam?'

'That's me,'

'Why is there a three foot axe with an eye on my dining room table?'

Pamela looked up from her reading material, 'Oh, my night out was interrupted by saving an innocent last night,' she went back to writing on a pad.

'What? What kind of demon?'

'One that isn't in the book. Is Emma up yet?'

'Uh… She said she had to take care of something this morning, why?'

'Oh, it's not important… It's just that Jenna froze when we were fighting last night and maybe Emma could find out why,'

'With a psychic breaking and entering?' Piper smirked, 'Freeze? As in… my kind of freeze?'

Pamela gave her a dry smile, 'No, I mean it was if she was afraid to do anything. I've never seen her seize up like that,'

Piper nodded sympathetically, 'Have you eaten yet?'

Pamela shook her head, 'No. What you cookin, average lookin?'

'Cute,' she replied sarcastically as she walked into the kitchen.

Pamela gave the axe a strange look and moved her hand towards it, but she instantly pulled her hand back when the eye on the handle blinked. She grimaced in disgust and tried to touch it again, but when she touched the blade, she was pulled into a premonition.

_A little girl, probably around six years old probably, was standing at the edge of police tape. Lights from various ambulances and cop cars were flashing, impairing Pamela's vision of the scene. The little girl stood with a teddy bear in her bloodstained hands, having no idea of what was going on._

_The scene switched to the police who were conferring over something,_

'_We found the girl's fingerprints on the murder weapon,'_

'_Really? What's going to happen?'_

_The man sighed, 'I think an asylum's the only place for a five year old that would kill her parents and brother._

_The other man nodded solemnly and went to talk to the little girl…_

The vision ended and Pamela was even more confused than before! What had that premonition meant?

'Okay, grub's up!' Piper walked in with two plates of pancakes, noticing the look on her niece's face, she questioned her, 'You okay?'

'Uh… I don't know. I had a premonition when I touched that axe, but I think it was of the past.'

'What did you see?'

'A little girl… murder… blood, it's all pretty jumbled up,'

'What were you thinking of when you had it?'

Pamela quickly retraced her mental steps and gasped in horror, 'Jenna…'

* * *

Emma sat in the coffee shop that Pamela worked in, knowing that she didn't start her Saturday shift until two o'clock; she knew that she had plenty of time with Shalimar.

Sure enough, Emma saw the back of a blonde haired woman looking around at the entrance. The psionic smirked at the sight of her friend before waving her over/

'Hey!' Shalimar said enthusiastically

'Hi, it's your favourite time of year again!' Emma responded with a smirk

The feral grimaced at the sun that was already up at seven thirty in the morning, 'Ugh! Long days… short nights, not exactly the most favourite time of cats,'

Emma laughed at her friend, 'So how have you been?'

Shal grinned, 'Are you kidding? I'm great! Travelling the word is an amazing release for my more than wild side. How about you? How's your life?' she smiled

Emma rolled her eyes, 'It's been hectic lately, they found out that I'm a reborn spirit, my best friend slept with another guy so her relationship with boyfriend isn't going too well, and I met the middle sister called Phoebe,'

Shalimar put on a serious face, 'Wait a minute, you're living with the Charmed Ones?'

'Yeah, why?'

'Because the middle sister that you met is the same girl that's with our team at Sanctuary!'

'What? You mean… Brennan's the father of the baby she's carrying?'

Shalimar nodded slowly, but then smiled, 'She's really changed him for the better! I'm gonna go up there and help them,'

'To protect the baby?'

'Partially,' she said, 'But I also wanna be there for when they take down Ashlocke,'

* * *

Paige was sitting in her office, she was supposed to be signing the finalization on an adoption form, but she just wasn't up to it. She kept thinking about the pain she had seen in Aidan's eyes before he had splashed out. She felt like summoning him and give him an earful for thinking that she would cheat on him in a sane mind, but she knew that she had hurt him, and whether she liked it or not, it had been her when she had slept with the darklighter, an evil her though.

She suddenly took a strop and threw her pen at the door, breathing heavily as she began to weep loudly into her hands. She looked up when she saw light appearing out of the corner of her eye. It was a swirl of lights, and when they disappeared, Phoebe stood in their place!

'Ph- Phoebe?' Paige said shakily

Phoebe shuffled over to her, 'Can we sit on the sofa?' she pointed to the couch that was on the right wall, 'It's sort of hard for me to kneel down these days,' the glanced at her large stomach.

'How long?' Paige asked with a sniff,

Phoebe patted her stomach lovingly, 'Any day now!'

Paige put on a strained smile, 'That's so…' she didn't get a chance to finish her sentence as the grief got the better of her and she burst into tears. The middle Halliwell walked over to her baby sister, guided her to the couch and handed her a box of tissues.

'C'mon… Tell your big sister what's wrong,'

* * *

In another part of town, more crying was taking place, but this time it was Jenna who had turned on the waterworks. She cried into Pamela's shoulder while Piper, Leo and Zach looked on with pitiful eyes in the Manor living room.

Jenna stopped crying and sniffed, she was ready to talk, 'I was… Uh…. Five when it happened. My parents were illusionist witches, we moved from town to town, putting on shows for money… Life was hard, but we had a lot of fun,' she smiled at the memory, 'Anyway, after a while of travelling, my parents decided that me and my little brother Ron should grow up in a normal place. They had saved enough money to buy a nice little house in San Francisco. It wasn't a fancy place, just enough room for the four of us.' Her voice went into a whisper, 'The night we moved in, demons attacked us. The rest of my family was slaughtered but I survived somehow, a neighbour heard the commotion, saw me with bloodstained hands holding an axe, and the rest you saw,' she looked at her friend.

'What happened after that?' Piper asked, receiving a glare from her niece.

'I was… but in a mental asylum for three years. When I tried to tell the doctors what really happened, they would just sedate me and say I was delusional. It was pretty hard to believe that a magical force had killed my parents, it was easier just to blame me and shut the case,' Jenna fidgeted with her hands before continuing, 'One night, when they came to sedate me, I was ready. It produced the fruits of a week of meditating and conjured the most powerful illusions I had ever created. I ran that night and that's when Principal Wyatt found me,'

Piper turned to her husband, 'You knew?' she shrieked

'Hey! It wasn't important and it was before you were a witch! Besides, it's Jenna's decision if she tells someone or not.' He glanced at Jenna when he said this.

'I still don't know why I survived… Some days I'm glad I'm still here, other days I wish that I had died with them,'

Pamela let her friend lean on her shoulder, 'Uncle Leo, isn't there anything we can do?'

'Well… We could get Clyde, but I'm not sure if he'll take us without a fee,'

'I'm home!' Emma closed the Manor door behind her and looked at the scene in the living room, 'Wow, who died?' she got no answer, 'Oh my god, who died?'

'Perfect timing Emma!' Piper smirked, an idea forming in her head.

* * *

'Alright Leo! Do your worst!' Piper beamed,

'What is he gonna do?' Pamela asked, wanting to know why Piper was smiling,

'He's gonna summon Clyde,'

'Clyde! Get you transparent butt down here, you afterlife lowlife! It's time for you to crawl yourself out of that pathetic existence and move your ass!'

Something came down from the roof, spinning and creating a light wind in the attic and blew the lighter objects in the room in a lot of different directions. A scruffy man appeared with a scowl on his face, staring at Leo with anger in his eyes.

'Leo! What the hell do you want?' he shouted.

'I need you to take Jenna back to the day her family died,' he said calmly, glancing at the teen.

'A job? Alright!' He rubbed his hands together, 'But no free rides this time!'

'Actually…' Leo trailed off.

'Oh no you don't! I want money this time!'

'How about keeping your life instead?' Piper spoke up. Clyde gave her a strange look.

'See her?' Piper glanced in Emma's direction, 'She's dead, which means she can vanquish you with a spell, so we will kill you if you don't help us,' The leading witch responded calmly.

'You know it's true,' Emma said, while making her forehead glow, 'I can sense your fear,' she smirked when she saw her freak out was working.

'Alright…' he growled, clicking his fingers and making a door appear out of nowhere,

'Keep an eye on that!' Piper warned, 'I don't want Bonnie and frickin Clyde coming through that door again!'

'Bonnie and Clyde?' Pamela asked her uncle.

'Don't ask…' he responded

Clyde clicked his fingers again and the door opened, 'You ready?' he growled.

Jenna nodded slowly and walked into the dark hole with Leo closely behind her. Suddenly, Pam grabbed Zach's hand and ran towards the door, ignoring the shouts from her aunt and jumping in after her friend.

* * *

Paige blew her nose into another tissue, 'How did you know I was like this?' she asked her sister.

Phoebe propped up her elbow on the back of the sofa, 'I stay in contact with all of you empathically. I felt your pain and I couldn't ignore it!' she smiled, 'You are my little sister after all. So, what's wrong?'

They sat there for half an hour, Paige explained to her about her entire history with Aidan, ending with how he had left her life.

Her big sister sighed, 'Oh… Sweetie,' Phoebe leaned over as far as she could and hugged her sister, 'I've missed so much!' she pulled back and stroked Paige's hair, 'I'm gonna be home soon, okay?' Paige nodded in response, 'And… regarding Aidan,' she turned distant, using her empathy to track down the grieving elemental. She was almost blasted back into the wall when she didn't expect what she was going to feel. The only time she had ever felt something this was when she had first met Brennan and when she was close to Piper and Leo. Warmth, happiness, safety, passion… Very few empaths got to feel this emotion in their lifetime, and if they did, it would only be once… This, was true love.

'Phoebe? What's wrong?' Paige asked cautiously, seeing that her sister's eyes were watering.

'Paige…' she whispered, before releasing her sight on Aidan's emotions,

'Are you okay?'

She sighed, 'I'm better than okay! Paige I felt it! He loves you! He loves you more than anything in the world!'

'What?'

She suddenly grabbed her sister's hands, 'Paige, don't you dare let him walk out of your life! You hear me!'

'But I don't think…' Paige looked down,

The middle Halliwell looked into her little sister's eyes, 'Don't think, just feel…' Phoebe fired a psionic blast, not at her head, but at her heart. Paige's eyes began to water just like Phoebe's had did as she experienced the feelings that her sister had projected into her heart. She squeezed her eyes shut and let the wave of emotions take her.

'Aidan…' she breathed, on the verge of tears.

Phoebe lifted her chin up, 'I think you know what you have to do,' and with that, she disappeared in a swirl of white lights.

* * *

'I'm surprised she remembers the way,'

'Why? Her parents and brother died here, I think that's something that might stay in your memory,' Pamela replied to Zach in hushed whispers.

Leo had been angry when he found out that his niece and her friend had slipped along for the ride, as this was a very important journey for the grief stricken teen that was walking ahead of them and Leo thought that having her friends there might disrupt it. But then again, he thought that having her friends there might help, so he hadn't said another word and decided to let them tag along.

Jenna stopped at the next bend, taking a deep breath and pointing to the small bungalow across the street, 'That's the one…' she said with a raspy voice.

Leo came up behind her, 'I know this is hard… But not only will this answer your questions, but it'll clear the guilt that you've been carrying around all these years,'

She nodded slowly in response and walk across the street with everyone else close behind her.

* * *

Emma let her head hit the table in the library with a dull thud, 'I believe this! Centuries of magical knowledge and no one has ever came across an evil counterpart?'

Piper slowly walked down from the ladder that she had been up while searching the bookshelves. She was carrying a pile of reading material, 'I know! It's ridiculous! But we need more information so I thought we could go through all of these books,' she plopped them down on the desk.

Emma read the spine of one of them, 'One Hundred And One Funny Potion Mishaps?' she raised an eyebrow.

'Hey, you never know what might help,' Piper responded with a smirk.

She was about to pick the first book off the pile and start reading, when they're was a noise that sounded like an explosion and it was followed by Wyatt's whining, 'Chris! Not again!' Piper rolled her eyes, thinking about what her youngest son could have blown up now, 'Excuse me,' she went off towards the nursery, but she had hit the tower of books by accident and they all tumbled to the floor.

'Don't worry! I'll get them!' Emma shouted sarcastically down the hall. She got down onto the floor and began to pick up the books. Something glittered out of the corner of her eye; Emma turned round and saw a book with a yin yang symbol on the front. She made a face, surely that would have something to do with evil counterparts. She began flicking through the book, but her heart fell when all the pages were blank, this made Emma even more confused.

'Okay, it was just a little hole in the wall, quick spell took care of it,' Piper said as she entered the room, not seeing Emma's bemused expression.

'Hey, do you think a revealing spell would work on this?' she stood up and showed all the blank pages to Piper.

'What makes you think there's anything in it?' Piper scanned the pages as she flipped them.

'I dunno, let's just try,' the redhead replied, quickly thinking of a spell,

'Hidden words lie, within this tome,

Reveal them now, make them shown,'

A faint glow coursed through the book, it flew out of Piper's hands and landed on the table, flipping its pages at an incredible speed, just like Book Of Shadows. After it reached the end, it closed with a snap and returned to Piper.

'Well?'

'Well what?'

'Open it!' Emma urged.

'Okay, okay! Jeez!' she opened the cover and began to read with Emma. They had finally found something.

* * *

Jenna, Leo, Pamela and Zach were standing outside of the house, looking in through the window and watching the family move about, putting things in place. As they were ghosts right now, they could stand right in front of the window and nobody could see them.

Jenna looked at the clock that stood on the mantelpiece, 'Okay, only a couple of minutes left,'

'How do you know?' Pamela asked bluntly,

'Because I remember looking at that clock right before the demons appeared,'

A couple of moments past and Jenna began to shake even more, rubbing her hands together and her eyes beginning to water.

'I've changed my mind you guys… I can't do this,' she began to walk away but Leo grabbed her arm.

'You can't! We can't go back until you see what you're supposed to see! That's part of coming back here,'

Jenna tried to get away, but Pamela put an arm around her shoulders, 'Sweetie, I know you can do this! you have to do this…'

She looked at the young Halliwell and nodded slowly, before walking back to the window. She watched the second hand on the clock on the mantelpiece tick towards the top, about five seconds before it reached twelve, she spoke.

'It's time…'

They could see little Jenna staring at the clock just as the demons shimmered in, swinging their axes and bringing it down on Jenna's dad's chest, killing him instantly. Jenna fought back the urge to close her eyes as she saw her mom trying to get her little brother to safety, but they were both slaughtered. Grief stricken, little Jenna went over to silent mothers body, tears streaming from her face. Suddenly, there was a glow in her eyes and little Jenna's form began to change! After the light had gone, a humongous dragon stood couched in the living room.

'What?' Jenna breathed as she watched the scene from the window. The dragon breathed out a fireball, blasting one of the demons into a wall and making him drop his axe. The other demon fought desperately, cutting the scaly arm of the creature, but it retaliated by swinging its arm and throwing him into the fireplace. After that, both demons shimmered out, one without his axe. The dragon changed back into Jenna and went over to the axe, picking it up, just in time for a neighbour to come through the door and scream.

'I… I shapeshifted… myself?' Jenna looked to Leo, 'How is that even possible? That's not my power!'

Leo cleared his throat, obviously affected by what he had just seen; he sniffed, 'You grief and anger must have given you a temporary power advancement,'

She looked back into the window, seeing the neighbour back away from little Jenna and run out the house, probably away to call the police, 'But I don't remember… How would I not remember turning into something like that?' she was hysterical now, but Pamela and Zach comforted her by pulling her into a tight hug. A grey portal opened up, it was howling, it was also the way out.

'Let's go…' Leo whispered, and they slowly walked through the vortex.

* * *

Paige orbed to the top of the Golden Gate Bridge, she wrapped her ankle length cardigan around her tightly as the wind blew around her, it may have been the summer, but the wind was still strong and cold when you were up this high. She smiled when she noticed Aidan sitting at the edge of the red metal, looking out towards the Bay. Her shoes clanging against the metal as she walked, Aidan turned around to see who it was, he sighed deeply and turned back to the river.

'Sorting out your thoughts?' Paige smiled, referring to the first time they had met.

'Could say that. How'd you find me? I made myself immune to summons and scrying,'

Paige looked down and put her hands behind her back, 'Call it… Lover's Intuition,'

'I'm surprised you can say that with a straight face…' he muttered.

'Look… I'm sorry,' she pleaded.

'Is that you, or the evil you?' he retorted.

'Well, I…'

'Or maybe you wanna just go and revive your darklighter buddy, huh?'

'Look! Would just stop for a minute and listen to me? God… If you're going to be like this, I can see I've wasted my time…' she began to orb out.

'Paige! Wait! Look… I'm sor- GOD!' he boomed, 'How the hell have you just made ME feel guilty when YOU were the one screwing another guy!'

'I said I'm sorry! What do want me to do? Plead evil? I love you more anything in my entire life, Aidan. I can't do anything to prove that to you except from eighteen months of love, of passion, of living together, of _being_ together! And… If that isn't enough for you… Then I guess we're finished,' she said in a whisper.

He looked at his feet, and shook his head, he sighed again and made an outburst, 'Dammit Paige! I love you! But… how do I know this isn't going to happen again?'

'Because…' she moved towards him and put her hands on his chest, 'The next time I turn evil, I'll just kill you, I won't cheat on you,' she smirked.

'Next time?' he snorted, but he smiled with her,

'I would never hurt you on purpose, I promise.' She looked down after putting her arms around his neck, 'I don't know what I'd without you, Aidan.'

He stroked her cheek and put a piece of her hair behind ear and kissed her softly, as the sun set on the horizon.

* * *

Hey! Did you like that? You should know I wouldn't break up my homemade couple lol! Anyway, the next chapter is the one you've ALL been waiting for! 

NEXT TIME: Vicious storms ravish area and city around Sanctuary, it leaves a mutant with the power of deflection in danger, which means a job for Mutant X. Phoebe's baby is due to be born any day, and with the return of an old friend, things get explosive in this chapter before the end!

Chapter 36 'I Scream The Baby Electric' will be up soon!


	36. I Scream The Baby Electric

Prince Halliwell – Jenna's powers will be growing just like the rest of them, so she might do it again, but you'll need to read to find out! And about the pregnancies (resists temptation to give away storyline) you'll need to find out by reading! It's killing me not being able to tell you lol! And I think this chapter is going to be everyone's favourite, it's the longest one I've ever written and with Shalimar and Connor, it's going to be amazing! And you're getting REALLY close! The finale will be about Aidan's past but I won't give away anything yet, let's just say it's a pretty big secret!

Piperfairy – I know, I liked the ending too! I can't break up my homemade couple lol! And the countdown is over! Connor's arriving today! I'm you liked Phoebe coming back!

Unique deflection – Yup yup! Connor's here lol! And thanks for your compliments!

Andy20 – LOL! I know I'm evil, and I love it! Mwhaha! This fic is your favourite? (cries with joy) that's so cool! And I thought that only a sister would be able to Paige and since Piper was busy… lol!

Princess Pinky – Ugh! I know! I hate it when you write a long review then it doesn't go through, it's so annoying! Pam is great! I think she gives some comic relief to the story. Paige and Aidan are my first homemade couple lol! I couldn't have break up! Although… and if you think that the last chapter was good, you will LOVE this chapter!

Aniaka – Thanks for saying it's well written, emotional scenes are harder to write than fight scenes, so I'm glad you think I'm doing them well! And I thought that Phoebe should help her sister in need lol! And Connor's here… lol! And Emma will have a part in the P & P finale, so don't worry, and Shal going to be part of Ashlocke's take down. 

OKAY GUYS, I'M EXPECTING LONG REVIEWS FOR THIS ONE LOL!

**I Scream The Baby Electric**

Phoebe sat in the darkness of a night time Sanctuary. She was staring out of the air vent that showed the squall in the sky at this very moment, clouds moved quickly as the howling wind sent them across the sky at an amazing speed, but not before letting lightning fork and flash, momentarily blinding the witch. Phoebe didn't usually like storms, but for some reason, this one fascinated her! The way she could hear the rain pound off the side of the mountain, the way she felt like the thunder shook the very ground she has her slippered feet on, and of course the force and power she felt when the lightning cut a bright hole in the inky black sky. The door of her bedroom creaked open and Phoebe was pleased when she saw her husband to be walk out out of the room in his sleeping wear, that being his boxers.

He rubbed his eyes like a small child, 'Honey… What are you doing up?'

She smiled, 'Oh, the storm woke me up, that and I had to pee,' he made a face at her honesty as he sat down next to her at the face of the dojo, 'What? You wanted to know why I was up, so…' she smirked.

'Are you sure? Because I can wake up Adam if you want a check up,'

Phoebe sighed, he had been like this ever since she had entered the last month of her pregnancy, 'Don't you dare! He was up all last night trying to find that deflective mutant, he still didn't find her,'

'Really? Well, he's got his computers on hyper sensitive or something… I switch off when he starts to talk about stuff like that,'

She laughed and pecked him on the cheek before looking back up at the storm, Brennan noticed her interest in the outside and spoke,

'I used to watch storms when I was kid,' he said.

Phoebe smiled slightly, 'Hmm… Maybe that's why I'm so hypnotised by it,' he patted her large stomach, 'Talk about your binding passions,'

But he saw through her distraction, 'Then… Why do I feel you're not telling me everything?'

Phoebe raised her eyebrows, 'Wow! For a minute there I thought I was talking to Jesse!' she smirked.

He too, raised his eyebrows, 'Hmm… Is that a compliment?'

She ignored him, 'It feel like… We're on the verge of something, you know? We're just sitting here waiting for it to happen?'

'What do you mean? A premonition?'

She shook her head slightly, 'I don't know… Maybe… It's feels like it's trying to get out. The vision I mean, but it just can't,'

'Well…' he put an arm around her shoulders, she snuggled into the his chest, 'Maybe it's not a premonition, maybe it's the baby,'

Phoebe made a curious face, 'I suppose it's possible… I mean I have developed a sixth sense about the future,' she felt his chest vibrate when he laughed,

'I'm not surprised, after seeing it for seven years. C'mon, let's go back to bed,' he got up.

'Okay, I'll be along in a minute, I just need to make another run to the bathroom!' she grinned before kissing him and letting go of his hand, she got up and looked at the stormy sky one last time, before walking off to the bathroom.

* * *

Adam began typing furiously on the keyboard as an alarm went in Sanctuary, 'Alright everyone! Get in here!'

Lexa walked into the lab casually, 'Last time I checked we had comrings, you don't need to holler and bring the mountain down on us!'

Adam ignored her comment and began to talk as Brennan and Jesse entered, 'Okay, I finally got hold of this deflective mutant! You three need to get over there now! I'll patch the coordinates into the Helix,'

'Whoa! Hold on, have you seen the storm out there? As soon as we fly out the hangar we'd be blown into the side of the mountain leaving only a scorch mark!' Jesse exclaimed.

'Alright then, drive! Either way you get need to get to her before Ashlocke does!' he urged, 'Once you're in the direct area, Phoebe will make a telempathic bond with her and help you locate her,'

'What am I doing?' Phoebe asked, waddling into the lab after hearing her name being mentioned.

'Oh, you're going to be our supernatural radar,' Lexa replied with a smirk.

The psionic witch narrowed her eyes, 'Cute. Just tell me when and I'll be ready,' she nodded confidently.

'Alright you guys, go!' Adam urged again, he was really anxious to get this mutant on their side.

* * *

Andy stood at the edge of the city, desperately trying to get in. He had tried everything! Orbs, potions and just good old fashioned ramming into it, but nothing was working. The Elders theory was that the storm which had been blanketing the entire city and surrounding area for the past few days, was magically conjured, and it wasn't allowing any magical being in or out until it had came what it did to do.

'Dammit…' he breathed, knowing that the end of Phoebe's pregnancy was eminent and he would to be there to heal if anything were to go wrong.

'Hey!' a bus driver called from his window, 'I'm taking this tour group into the city, you wanna ride?'

'Uh…' Andy looked at the invisible barrier and thought better of it, knowing that barrier would stop him even on a bus, 'No thanks, I'll pass,'

The bus driver nodded in response and drove more into the storm. The frustrated whitelighter looked up and cursed the dark clouds that were keeping him out of the city. He gritted his teeth and orbed out, knowing that there was nothing he could do.

* * *

'Ugh!' Lexa put her hood up on the waterproof jacket she had been forced to wear. The rain was lashing the streets while thunder and lightning tormented the sky, it was truly hell! The three members of Mutant X ran through the alley, the water splashing and soaking their feet as they moved, 'Okay Pheebs, now would be a really good time to get us a location!' Lexa shouted into her comring over the thunder and rain.

Phoebe frowned as she tried to locate the mutant, 'What's wrong?' Adam asked, noticing her with a confused expression on her face.

'It's strange, I can't reach this girl through any of my powers,' she replied and turned to him, 'Is it possible she's using her power to make herself untraceable?'

Adam mulled it over then answered, 'It's possible, her deflection power is a full body effect so that might mean her heart and brain also,'

Phoebe rolled her eyes, 'Figures,'

Lexa's voice came through the comring, 'While you guys slowly ponder over this in a dry, warm environment, we'll out here getting soaked and freezing our asses off!'

Phoebe and Adam smiled at the typical Lexa remark, 'Sorry guys, it looks like you're doing a visual sweep,' she smirked when she heard everyone sigh and groan.

'Ugh… Fine! But you better have a hot bath ready for me!' Lexa spat.

'Hot coffee will do me fine,' Jesse added.

'Aw… You guys are wimps! C'mon let's go!' Brennan ran down the alley.

'Phoebe…' Lexa began

'Don't worry, he won't get a warm up cuddle for that when he comes home!' she grinned.

'Good!' Lexa said triumphantly, running after the two guys.

* * *

Mutant X had been searching for an hour, they were wet, cold and tired, but they kept trudging on and tried to find this mutant. Lexa finally had an outburst, sitting down on the sodden ground and folding arms.

'That's it! I've had enough! Either this mutant shows up in the next minute, or I'm going back to the car for a heat and dryness!'

'You were covert operative before you joined us, who can you not handle a bit of rain?' Jesse asked.

'Okay, number one…' she held up her finger, 'This isn't just a little rain!' she held her hands out as if she was trying to catch the rain, 'And number two, I don't do wet,'

Brennan and Jesse sniggered, 'You don't do wet?' Brennan repeated with a smirk.

Lexa shot him a glare, 'I'm surprised you do wet, Sparky. Especially since you can't light up in a rainstorm,' she smiled sweetly at him.

Brennan's face fell, damn! He had completely forgot that he couldn't use his powers when he was wet. This would leave him at a major disadvantage if they ran into the Links. Jesse spotted something coming round the corner, 'Looks like the car heater will have to wait, Lex,' someone was walking away from them and down the alley, 'That's our girl,'

'It's about time, you boys catch up,' she stood up and disappeared in a flash of light.

'Dammit, she's gonna scare the hell out of her!' Brennan exclaimed.

Sure enough, Lexa reappeared instantly in front of the girl, 'Going somewhere?' the woman backed away and her body began to glow a yellowish colour, 'Would that be your deflection?' Lexa said with an unimpressed tone.

The girl stopped glowing, 'How'd you-,'

'We're friends of Adam Kane,' the light molecular replied flatly.

'You guys are Mutant X?' she looked at them all.

'Yeah, c'mon we need to get you out of here,' Jesse ushered her the other way, until an energy ball came flying past the team and causing a dumpster to explode. The three of them turned round to see at least ten Strand members. Lexa narrowed her eyes and prepared to fight,

'Brennan, get her back to the car,' she said, not taking her eyes off the enemy.

'Are you kidding me?' he replied, getting ready to spark up.

'I wouldn't do that unless you want to be a human Christmas tree,' Lexa warned, 'Look, your fighting skills won't be enough to take these guys down, Jesse can fight and can use his powers! You're grounded at the moment,'

Brennan hesitated before growling and lowering his hand, running towards the deflective mutant, 'Alright! C'mon! Let's go! Let's go!' he urged her, running down the dark path and back to the street.

'Ashlocke shall rule you all!' One of the more crazed Links shouted as he jumped up onto the top of a rusting forklift and roared. Lexa grimaced and assumed he was an ursine feral of some sort.

'Oh yeah? Well, tell Ashlocke I said hi!' and with a sweet smile, she released a powerful dazzle, blinding all of the Links. Jesse, who's eyes had grown accustomed to these bursts if light, took advantage of this distraction and jumped up onto a closed dumpster and shot a thermal blast at the primal witch, knocking off the forklift and onto the ground. Once the light had disappeared, so had the rest of the Links,

'Where'd they go?' Lexa looked around, slightly flinching when the thunder rumbled above her.

Jesse jumped off the crate and sighed, 'Damn… They must have escaped during your little light show,' he then realised what was going on, 'Aw man… that guy…' he gestured towards the downed feral, 'Was just a distraction, they're going after Brennan,'

Lexa put her hand to her forehead, 'Crap… And the one day Sparky's actually powerless!'

'Okay, I'll this way, you go that way,' he said, pointing in respective directions.

'Who said you get to bark orders?'

'No one, but since your last plan has now bit us in the ass, I'm in charge,' Lexa rolled her eyes and walked down the way Jesse had told her.

* * *

Jesse could hear the rain being amplified against the dirty skylight of the warehouse. Looking around cautiously, he walked in slowly, looking around every corner and even under the old conveyer belt! He had checked in with Lexa just before entering the warehouse, making sure that she was ready to come to his aid if things got ugly, knowing that this could be the perfect place for Links who had the same love for the wet as Lexa.

He spun round on the spot, hearing something like a bottle being rolled across the concrete floor, after giving the place a quick scan with his eyes, he decided to move forward. Suddenly seeing something out of the corner of his eye, Jesse quickly phased just in time to avoid a gravitational blast, which hit the conveyer belt behind him and making the metal and rubber crush itself into a crumpled sphere.

'Gravity a pretty dangerous thing…' a woman's voice said, she soon walked out from behind a set of metal stairs, 'One of these things…' she played with another gravity ball in her hand, 'Can make your body crush itself!'

'It's a good thing I have a pretty good control over my body then…' Jesse replied calmly, phasing out again as she fired another gravitational ball.

'Why do you fight us? Gabriel only wants the best for our kind!'

'Maybe! But he's going about it the wrong way about it!' Jesse shouted back, releasing two thermal blasts from his hands, one freezing cold and the other roasting hot but the Link just threw out two gravity balls and cancelled out the blasts.

'There's the problem with Mutant X, you all do things independently, while we work together as a unit,' once the smoke had cleared, Jesse saw that all of the Strand members that he'd been looking for, had all gathered during the blast and circled him.

'Lexa…' he called to nowhere, but she had heard him through her comring.

'I'm on my way,' she responded, instantly being there in a flash of light.

'I like that power more and more every day,' Jesse smirked.

'Me too,'

The woman that fired the gravity balls clicked her fingers and a massive burly man came out of the shadows, he was completely bald and wore an intimidating scowl. Veins bulged in his thick arms as he cracked the bones in his fingers. The other Links ran off after he had appeared.

'Looks like someone ate his porridge in the morning,' Lexa commented with a smile, before releasing a hot laser from her fingertips, but before it hit, the man breathed in and metal covered his body and the hot light bounced off it, hitting one of the iron beams that held the roof up.

'Metallic massing…' Jesse growled, fists clenched.

'Now you tell me…' the light molecular spat back to her teammate.

The looming man approached them. Jesse jumped in front of Lexa and massed out in a feeble attempt to protect her, but the man lifted Jesse, even in his massed out form, and threw him at an incredible speed towards the brick wall. Massed Jesse smashed right through the wall on contact and landed in the rubble, heavily injured.

'JESSE!' Lexa screamed, instantly wanting to run to him, but the man grabbed her with lightning quick reflexes.

'Hey,' someone said from the behind the foreboding man, they must have tapped his back, because he let go of Lexa and turned around to face them, she still couldn't see who is it was because of the man's build. She suddenly heard the human mountain groan in pain and he fell to the floor! But what was even more surprising was that the person that had knocked him was a woman! She had blonde hair that went past her shoulders and her eyes glowed with a hypnotising gold colour. This woman was one of Genomex's most powerful ferals, this woman was one of Lexa's best friends, this woman was Shalimar Fox!

'Shal?' the woman breathed, barely able to talk.

Shalimar ignored her so she could make a witty remark at the man, 'Think about this moment the next time you pick on someone half your size!' she unravelled the iron chains that she had wrapped around her fist, 'You okay?'

'Yeah, but Jess…' she walked briskly over to the lifeless body that lay within large broken parts of concrete and had been soaked by the outside rain. Lexa put her two fingers under his jaw and onto his neck, 'His pulse is there… but it's really weak,'

'Don't worry, I know Jess, he's a fighter!' she grinned as she pulled a potion vial out of her pocket and smashing it on Jesse's chest. His wounds disappeared instantly and he regained consciousness.

'Thank God…' Shalimar sighed.

Her friend raised an eyebrow, 'You didn't know if it was going to work?'

'Hey, I took a chance, he would have died anyway, since your whitelighter seems to be non existent, but it's not his fault,'

'What do you mean it's not his fault, and how do you know about our whitelighter?' Jesse asked, getting helped up.

'I'll explain when we get to Sanctuary, where's the Helix?'

Jesse shook his head, 'It was too dangerous to fly, we had to drive,'

The feral rolled her eyes, 'Fine where are you parked?' they were about to answer, but she put up her hand, 'Never mind, I'll just sniff out Brennan,' her eyes went feral and she jumped out the hole that Jesse's crash landing had made, the other two looked out to see her but she had already jumped off into the night.

'Well, I'm glad to see she hasn't lost her fondness for grand entrances and exits,' Jesse muttered, taking Lexa's hand and disappearing in a flash of light.

* * *

Phoebe stood at the garage entrance, waiting for her friends to get out of the car so she could greet them. She had decided to keep her power problem under wraps, since it would only worry Brennan and it as probably nothing, although it didn't feel like nothing. Her feelings of apprehension had been rising all day, and the fact that something was jamming her psychic abilities was adding to the worry, but being a psionic, Phoebe had learned how to mask her true feelings. But her spirits were lifted when she saw Shalimar appear with her friends, she grinned from ear to ear as did the feral when she saw Phoebe.

'Oh my God! Shal! Why didn't you tell me you were coming?' Phoebe exclaimed as she embraced the blond, 'Wow, your tan looks great! A lot better than in those photos!'

'Thanks! And look at you! The last pictures you sent me you weren't this big!' the woman laughed as they enjoyed each other's company.

Lexa raised her hand, 'Uh… Excuse me? Am I the only one that's confused here? You guys tried to kill each other last time you met!'

'Oh, c'mon Lexa! She was possessed! And after that whole 'fight to the death' thing, we've been keeping on contact through e-mail ever since,' the psionic smiled triumphantly.

'Oh! I've got my digital camera with me!' Shal brought out a small camera from the bag that was on her shoulder, 'You think I could develop my pictures from Rome?'

'Sure!' Phoebe beamed and began walking to her room, 'You coming?'

'I gotta report to Adam first,' she walked in the different direction, 'I'll see you later, okay?' Phoebe nodded and went into her room.

Brennan and Jesse walked away to show the deflective mutant around, leaving Lexa standing there alone, 'What am I? Chopped liver?' she muttered hopelessly to no one, feeling left out by her 'gal pals'

* * *

Shalimar grinned as she walked into the lab to find Adam, who was looking down a microscope at the time, 'Surprise!' she shouted, surprising the aging man slightly.

Adam turned around and grinned, 'Shalimar!' he embraced the girl that he had known for so long in a hug.

'Last time I heard from you, you were in Italy. Did you beating all the guys at the coliseum get too boring for you?' he joked.

'Yeah, and none of them would fight topless, so…'

'Uh huh, what'd else you get?'

'New shoes, a new language and a prophecy,' she said the last word with a dark tone.

Adam's brow furrowed, 'What do you mean?'

She began to pace the lab, 'Well I was exploring the more rural parts of the country, you know me, any excuse for the outdoors. Anyway, my curiosity got the better of me and I went into a cave that I found, which was pretty stupid since I got possessed the last time I went into one, but…'

'Shalimar…' Adam said in a fatherly tone, reminding her that she was going off track.

'Sorry. So when I went into this cave, there was a man, he called himself a shaman. He handed me this…' she pulled out a scroll of old parchment from her bag and handed it to Adam, 'And said I should give it to the wisest person I knew to decipher it. You popped into my mind immediately,' she smiled.

Adam smiled and gave the text on the scroll a once over, 'Hmm… A lot of it's deteriorated, but I think I can use some reanimation equipment to bring up a perfect copy on the computer. The part I can read is… The child of…' he narrowed his eye then looked up, 'Sorry, it's written in a very ancient form of Roman language, it's not one of my best subjects. The child of… The child of…' he leaned in closer.

Shalimar walked over to him and patted his back, 'I'll leave you with your new toy, I've got some female bonding to do,' she walked out of the lab, Adam not even realising she was gone!

* * *

The three girls sat around the computer area as the pictures from Shal's camera loaded on to the screen. Most of the pictures were scenery of cities, and they were better than postcard! But Phoebe and Lexa knew that Shalimar had done a lot of jumping to get these pictures. Another picture loaded onto the screen, it was Shalimar sitting outside a small café as the busy traffic of Rome whizzed by her as she slurped a cappuccino.

'So how was the nightlife?' Lexa asked, knowing that her friend loved to wander around in the darkness of night.

'It was great, the city looked amazing at night. It was all lit up, and seeing it all from top of the coliseum was great! There's just a sense of freedom in a place like that,' she shook her head wistfully, obviously remembering some good times.

'Wow, sounds like my kind place…' Phoebe breathed as she imagined being where Shal had been when she had taken the photo of the Rome skyline.

Shal hit her arm lightly, 'You and Bren should go sometime, you'd love it,'

'Look's like travelling the world agrees with you,' Lexa smiled as her feral friend nodded slowly.

Phoebe narrowed her eyes and looked towards the basketball court that Brennan and Jesse had set up, they were currently playing a game with the deflective mutant, Rebecca.

'Is it me, or has she been flirting with Brennan and Jesse ever since she got here?'

'It's not just you,' Lexa replied with disgust as she watched Rebecca try and get the ball off Brennan, who was holding it high. There seemed to be a lot on unnecessary rubbing of bodies as she jumped up and tried to grab the ball. The mutant finally got the ball and ran up the court, bouncing it the process, and jumped up, putting the ball into the net. She cheered herself with an infectious giggle and hugged Jesse tightly, who, being a typical man, didn't know what was going on and returned the hug, adding to Lexa's anger.

'Speaking of guys…' Shal began, 'Where do you and Jesse stand these days?'

'I tell you when I know,'

'Ah!' there was a scream from the court and Rebecca was down on the floor holding her ankle. Brennan knelt down to make sure she was alright,

'Whoa! Are you okay? I shouldn't have threw that ball so hard!' he said, cursing himself.

'It's okay!' she winced in fake pain, the girls could see she was faking it, but the boys were oblivious, 'Could you carry me to the lab so Adam can check it?' she asked in a sweet voice.

'Sure…' he replied, hoisting her up in his arms, putting one arm behind her knees and the other around her shoulders, and then walking off to the lab with Rebecca snuggling into his chest. Phoebe eyes flashed with fury and Lexa bared her teeth slightly to the smug mutant, who just stuck out her tongue without Brennan noticed. Shalimar put a stop to this by making her eyes go feral and letting out a growl from the back of her throat. Phoebe laughed at this and Lexa grinned, high fiving her old friend.

* * *

'What do you think Julie? Is this magical?' Andy asked the Mulwray witch, who was an expert on magical storms since her power was atmokinesis. Julie walked slowly towards the edge of the city and felt the barrier, narrowing her eyes every now and again.

'Hmm… Looks like Phoebe is carrying the Child of Storms,' the aging woman smiled, 'Not really a surprise though, seeing as how both her and Brennan are so powerful,'

'The Child of Storms?' Andy asked with a raised eyebrow.

Julie turned round, 'In our family, there's a prophecy, one that tells of a child who shall be born into the elements. Hmm… How does it go again? Oh yes! The gods shall unleash their fury upon the bearer of the child. That would be the storm and Phoebe,' she added, 'The forces of magic shall be prevented from interfering as the birth dawns upon the world. That part's pretty self explanatory, the barrier's stopping all magical beings from getting in or out,' she added another side note, 'And last part says, Once the Child of Storms is brought into the world, only then will the sun shine once more,'

'So it's Phoebe's baby that doing this?'

'No, but Phoebe's baby is the reason…' she sighed and turned back to the barrier, 'I could probably break the barrier long enough for you to get inside and help, but it's gonna take some pretty powerful magic!'

'You can really do that?'

She smiled, 'Storms are my thing honey, if there's clouds, I can move'em,' Julie winked and turned back the city, ready to try and lift this storm.

* * *

The Mutant X team, plus Shalimar, had been sent out again, this time to stop some Strand activity that Adam had seen reported on the news. If they were attracting the attention of the press, they had to be stopped. This meant that Phoebe was left with Rebecca for company, much to her disgust, it annoyed Phoebe that she couldn't read her, but right now, she couldn't read anyone, and she was beginning to think the storm was the cause.

For now, Rebecca was leaving Phoebe at the computers, much to the pregnant psionic's relief, who was ready to hit her! She had been asking her questions about Brennan and Jesse, like if they were single, whether she thought they were hot or not, and saying that their past girlfriends were stupid for letting them go. Phoebe had finally cracked and shouted that they were already spoken for. Rebecca had been outraged and said, 'Someday, I'll have everything that's yours,' Phoebe had just ignored this because of her temper.

Adam finished scanning the parchment with his reanimation equipment and a perfect copy appeared on the computer screen, he could finally begin to translate it! Phoebe walked into the lab slowly, taking deep breaths and holding her stomach,

'Oh, Phoebe! It's good that you're here, I was about to-,'

'Adam.' She stopped him flatly.

'What is it?'

'My water just broke,'

* * *

'What? Why did you move? You should have called me!' Adam exclaimed.

'Okay, bitching later, child birth now,' she retorted.

'You're right, I'm sorry, c'mon, let's get you up here,' he guided her slowly onto one of the bed in the lab, lifting up her legs for her. Phoebe screamed in pain as a contraction hit her,

'Brennan… I need Brennan, and Lexa, and Jesse, and… everyone!' she breathed.

Adam raised his ring to his mouth, about to alert the others, when something hit him in the back, sending him flying into the computers and knocking him out. Phoebe spun her head around to see what had caused it, and her eyes bulged out of her head when she saw Rebecca standing with Gabriel Ashlocke!

Gabriel smirked, 'Daddy's home,'

* * *

The Mutant X team entered Cybertech building, apparently Adam had located some Links causing trouble of the people in the labs and he had sent his team to find out what was wrong. Lexa had stayed in the car, refusing to get soaked again after cleaning up. It was now night, although you couldn't tell it was the day since the black clouds had been covering the city and Sanctuary all day and it was beginning to make the team suspicious. Lexa typed something into her laptop, bringing up a rap sheet on their houseguest, Rebecca. She looked on the screen and gasped when she saw what was on it, Rebecca was a Link! Andy suddenly appeared in a swirl of orbs in the back seat, making Lexa.

'Damn! Andy, where the hell have you been?' she scolded him, mainly because he had startled her.

'I've been trying to get to you guys! the storm's keeping all magic out!' he retorted, 'But we don't have time! Phoebe's went into labour,'

Lexa slammed down the screen of her laptop, 'What?'

'That's not all, Ashlocke's with her,'

The molecular's eyes widened, she had to do something, 'Okay, I'll flash over there and buy us some time, get in that building and find the others, then orb their butts back to Sanctuary!' she disappeared before Andy could protest.

* * *

Phoebe screamed again as she felt another contraction rack her body, Gabriel came up to her, putting a cold hand on her shoulder and leaning in to whisper something into her ear.

'It'll be easier if you don't fight it,' he smirked.

Through the tears in her eyes she looked at him, 'You… Can't have… My baby,'

He laughed, 'Don't be stupid, I would never dream of separating the two of you, all I need to do is turn you evil and we can rule together,' he kissed her on the cheek and stroked her back.

She let out a small laugh, 'In your… Dreams,' Phoebe managed to breath out before another contraction hit her, causing her to scream again.

Rebecca stood at the bottom of Phoebe, 'She's almost ready to begin pushing,' she said heartlessly,

'Good, and make sure you wear rubber gloves. His daddy's probably given him some electrifying powers, I'll change that once I'm his father though,'

'Now there's a laugh,' a voice said, 'You were dropped on your too many times as a kid, Ashlocke, way too many times,'

Gabriel scowled, 'Not you again…' he turned around to face Lexa.

'Sorry to disappoint you, but her child already has a father,' her face grew dark, 'And a set of godparents!' she cried, releasing a dazzle and then a laser at Ashlocke, sending him across the room, unconscious. Rebecca stood up from her crouching position and began to glow, 'Deflect this!' Lexa shouted, before hitting the mutant hard with her fist, making her fall to the floor, 'Bitch!'

Surveying her work, she ran over to her friend and stroked her head, 'Don't worry Pheebs, everything's going to be okay, Brennan's on his-,' she didn't get to finish her sentence when Ashlcoke got back and released an energy blast, sending her into the wall. Rebecca began to get back up too, holding her jaw in pain and taking back her position.

'Alright, it's time,' she said, still holding her jaw.

Gabriel leaned in and licked Phoebe's ear, 'I'm gonna make you push, whether you want to or not,' he leaned back and his eyes went red. He took control of Phoebe's body and made her push. Phoebe cried, she couldn't even control her body, 'AH!' she screamed, he was pushing her body to the limits, and since her psychic abilities were jammed, she couldn't even fire a psionic blast, she was trapped!

'I see a head!' Rebecca squealed, 'I'm gonna enjoy raising this baby in your place,' she smirked at Phoebe and brought out an athame. Ashlocke smirked evilly and smelt Phoebe's hair in a sick way, lifting it with his fingers and putting his nostrils right on it.

'GET AWAY FROM HER!' Brennan yelled, releasing two powerful bolts of electricity at Ashlocke as soon as he appeared in the cloud of orbs that had brought him here. Ashlocke was sent hurtling across the room and flew through the wall that connected to the main part of Sanctuary, but that wouldn't keep him down for long.

Shalimar ran at the Link at amazing speed, delivering a solid punch to the face, making Rebecca scream in pain, 'That was for coming on to my friends,' she then kneed her in the stomach, 'That was for trying to steal my friend's baby…' Shal then grabbed her head and threw it up, making Rebecca stand up right, before delivering a powerful roundhouse kick to her face, 'And that was for being just plain annoying,'

Ashlocke got back up, 'Get out of my way! That baby is MINE!' he screamed, releasing an energy blast at the group, but it rebounded off a massed out Jesse and hit him, knocking him out again.

'Alright…' Phoebe breathed, seeing that all the bad guys were down, 'Get this baby out of me!'

Everyone looked at each other awkwardly before Andy quickly healed Adam and Lexa, who hadn't been that badly injured.

'Alright, I'll take care of those two,' Andy gestured at the fallen evils, 'You guys deal with her,' and with that, he orbed out with Ashlocke and Rebecca.

Everyone took their positions, the Mutant X team stood at wither side of Phoebe while Adam took his place at the bottom. Brennan took her hand and kissed it before she spoke,

'B-Bre-Brennan!'

'What is it honey?'

'I'm sorry if I break any of the bones in your hand!' she blurted out through breaths.

He laughed, 'Don't worry I'm pretty strong,' he kissed her head. Adam quickly surveyed the scene from his position.

'Okay Phoebe, you've did most of the pushing already, I just need one more push, can you give me that?'

Phoebe cried and shook her head, 'I… can't!'

Lexa stroked her hair and took her other side, 'Yes you can, hun! I know you can do it!'

With the support from her friends, Phoebe closed her eyes, gritted her teeth and pushed with all her might! Brennan and Lexa were fighting back the urge to scream as Phoebe was currently crushing their hands as she pushed. Phoebe suddenly screamed as she ended her push, and Connor Halliwell Mulwray was born into the world with a hearty cry from his tiny lungs.

Adam cut the umbilical chord and checked for any external damage, he was pleased to see the baby was healthy and wrapped him in a warm blanket before handing him to Phoebe.

She wept freely as she cradled the smiling little bundle in her arms, 'We did it…' she breathed to Brennan, 'We did it…'

He grinned in response, 'We did…' he sat up on the bed next to her and put an arm round her shoulders, staring at his son who looked back at him with clear, innocent blue eyes. Connor cooed slightly and wriggled his arms and legs, still getting used to being outside. The proud parents smiled at him and he smiled back, turning Phoebe and Brennan's smiles into grins. Shalimar nodded towards the door and everyone left the two to bask in the happiness of their baby boy………

The citizens of the city that was near Sanctuary looked outside of their windows. The people that had had their umbrella's up took them down as the rain stopped, the people who had been standing under bus shelters stood on the sidewalk. They all looked up to see the sun shine down on them.

* * *

(cries) I should get an Oscar, don't you think? Lol, kidding! Okay guys, here's how the two finales are going to work, I will the two first parts to begin with, then I'll post the Part Two's as chapters 39 and 40!

Chapter 37 Mutant X Finale 'How The Other Side Kills' will be up soon!


	37. Here Come The Water Works Part 1

Unique-deflection – Don't worry! There is going to be a sequel call 'United As Three' that should be up sometime next week if I manage to finish this one by that time! There's a preview for it in one of the earlier chapters, I think 22… I' m not sure. Anyway, I'm glad you liked it! That's the longest chapter I've ever written! But with the combined finales I think they might topple it!  
Prince Halliwell – I'm SO glad you loved it! And it's your favourite? Cool! And you'd be right about Ashlocke, but I think you'll agree when I say that Phoebe and Connor are mighty forces to be reckoned with! And your fan fic ends tomorrow if I'm not mistaken? I'll make sure to give it a big review lol! And I think the living arrangements will stay as they are, except for Phoebe and Brennan living by themselves, the Manor really is Piper's now!

Andy20 – Thank you! I'd like to thank the academy… lol! And I'm REALLY glad this fic is your favourite! I hope you like the finales just as much as you liked the last chapter, although it will be hard to top!  
Princess Pinky – THANK YOU! I just love writing Lexa's sarcastic comments! They come so easily! And yeah, I wanted a way for Phoebe and Shal to be good friends so I made it so they've been contact ever since Chapter 9! And yes, they will meet; this chapter might answer your question although it's the P & P finale! Enjoy!

Wyatt Halliwell – Well, since this is the P & P finale I'm sure you'll be pleased. I had slight writers block with the MX one so I went on to this! But I'm giving the reviewers a chance to decide what they want to see!

Piperfairy – I know, it'll be hard (sniffs) but you'll have 'United As Three' after that! Although it's going to be slightly darker than this one! Your countdown was finally over! And I'm glad you liked the storm! I laugh in the face of the Twice Blessed Child! Haha! Lol!

Aniaka – THANK YOU! I'm so glad to have the baby born! It means that Phoebe can play an active part in the finale! And you're close with the Connor vanquishing Ashlocke thing! You'll need to wait and see, since it's going to be the last chapter of the story! And as the name suggests, the sisters won't be together until 'United As Three' but the counterparts will still be around, and boy will there be a plot twist with them! And concerning Emma… You may just get your wish! And Aidan's past is revealed in this chapter! Just don't rush through it to find out what his secret is lol! I know… I can't believe how close to the end I am! 

**Here Come The Water Works Part 1**

Pamela nervously tapped her pencil off the end of year test that sat on the desk in front of her. Advanced Potions… Pamela scowled at the thought of this class; Jenna and Zach were in other classes so she sat alone at the front. She bit her lip anxiously and continued to hit the pen off the paper. The substitute teacher looked up from the desk and frowned in confusion, Pam was usually amazing at Potions that's why she had been put in this class! But it was something about the pressure of a test that just made her forget everything that she was taught. The only reason she knew this was because Emma DeLauro, the real teacher of this class, had told her about the level of her students before leaving for a couple of days. She gave the paper a final once over, checking her answers and making sure she had did the best that she could, Pamela sighed and walked up to the desk, handing in her paper and giving the teacher, Miss Donovan, a smile before sitting back down and waiting for the bell to ring.

It rang after about ten minutes. Pamela slung the strap of her bag over her head and stormed out of the class, ignoring Miss Donovan reading out Emma's instructions for the class, she did live with her after all, and summer vacation started next week so she wouldn't need to worry about school. Pamela leaned against the wall outside with one of her legs folded up and her foot on the wall. Jenna finally came along with a smile,

'Hey! How was your exam?'

'Ugh… I absolutely bombed! I failed for sure,' she began tapping her foot rapidly

'Hey,' Zach came up and noticed Pamela's obsessive foot tapping, 'What's wrong with her?'

'Prepare yourself for a rant,' Jenna replied, then holding up her fingers, 'Five, four, three, two, one,'

'I mean it's ridiculous!' Pamela started right on cue, 'I ace everything up until today! I'm good at Potions! That's why I'm in the higher class! I do amazing all year and then they pile all this pressure on us at the end! I mean it's so stupid! Why do they do it? They see our performances all year, and then they attack! It just SUCKS!'

No one was prepared for what happened next, as she finished her rant, Pamela threw out her arm to the side, and a massive energy wave flew from it. It went down the corridor, sending all of the students flying into lockers, walls, but mostly they just flew straight into the Great Hall. All the lockers swung open and became severely dented. The burst of energy ended at the Great Hall, smashing all the windows and knocking over most of the large bookshelves. Zach, Jenna and Pamela were the only people left who weren't clutching to a sore limb, or looking in horror as their locker doors had been blasted off.

'Oh my God…' Jenna breathed.

Pamela cringed, 'Oops…'

* * *

Various teachers were now nursing the wounds of students. No one had been badly injured, the worse was a couple of people having broken arms or legs, everyone just had bruises and were really pissed. Paige and Aidan walk onto the scene, looking at the damage that Pam's advanced telekinetic wave. 

'Leo…' Paige tapped Leo on the shoulder, who was helping someone with a broken leg, 'What happened? Was it a demon?'

Leo smiled wryly, 'Not quite, why don't you talk to Pam,' he nodded towards the teen who was slumped against the wall with her face in her hands.

'Did she do this?' Paige raised her eyebrows.

Leo nodded, 'It wasn't her fault, her powers advanced and…'

'Oh my God!' Piper's voice could be heard at the top of the corridor. Her eyes were wide and her jaw had hit the floor as she looked around at the remaining wreckage.

'Piper, over here,' Paige called her over, she had her on her niece's knee as she crouched down to Pamela's level, which was shaking and crouched in a ball. 'You take over, I've got some healing to do,' Paige gestured to the injured students, Piper nodded and took her place in front of her niece.

'Pam? What happened?' she didn't answer, 'C'mon sweetie, talk to me,'

Pam brought her face out of her hands, 'I waved my arm,' Piper just gave her a bemused expression.

'Well… It isn't that bad,' she cringed as she comforted her.

'Not that bad? Aunt Piper, I went half the student body flying with a wave of my arm! How is that not bad?'

'You finally got the power advancement you've been bitching about!' she replied as she brought her niece to her feet, 'Look, why don't you go home? Rest up and try not moving your arms,' she pushed her niece down the hall and went over to her sister. Paige finished healing the boys broken arm and stood up, falling as soon as she got up but Aidan caught her before she hit the floor.

'You okay?' her asked, lifting her back.

Paige hesitated, 'Uh… Yeah! I just stood up too fast, that's all,' she smiled. He nodded slowly, but still not convinced. He was going to question further, but Piper came over.

'How is she?' the youngest Charmed One asked.

'Coping. She's still pretty freaked out about what happened,' Piper's brow began to furrow and she looked around her.

'What is it?'

'Do you hear that? It's like… Running water,'

Paige and Aidan fell silent to try and hear the sound. There was something that sounded like running water, but it was getting louder as it now sounded like a waterfall. Aidan's eyes widened in realization 'Get all of the kids out of here,'

'What?' Paige asked, confused.

'Just do it! Piper, come with me!' he grabbed her arm and ran into the Great Hall.

'Aidan! What the hell are you-,' Piper didn't finished her sentence, as around twenty towers of water rose up from the floor and became, what she could only describe as knights. Dark metallic blue armour completely covered their body and they stood to attention like robots. Their faces were completely covered by a helmet that was the same colour as the armour; they looked quite foreboding, and adding that the large silver spears they were carrying, they were just plain frightening!

'DIE!' they all shouted, and threw their spears at Aidan. Piper jumped in front of him and massed out, making the spears bounce harmlessly off her and land on the floor with a clanging sound. Paige came in after getting all the kids out of harms way, Pamela was with her.

'Nighty night, knights,' Pam growled, throwing out her arm.

'No Pam don't!' Paige cried but it was already too late, the telekinetic energy blasted the knights in different directions, and even impaling one of them on a shard of glass from one of the broken windows. He dissolved into water and disappeared, leaving Pam feeling quite triumphant.

Paige grabbed her arm, 'Alright! Arms down! Blast, don't move things!'

Suddenly, water from the vanquished knights came together, making a tower of water and reforming into the same monstrosities that they had been.

'Kill them with those spears!' Aidan shouted, picking up some spears and throwing then at the girls, 'They'll keep them down for good!'

Pamela sighed, 'You're lucky I'm good with kendo sticks…' she muttered as she held the spear in a professional manner while Piper and Paige just looked uncomfortable. Pam ran at one of the unarmed knights, ducking when he went punched her then driving the spear into his chest. The knight screamed in pain and dissolved into water, but this time the water began to steam and evaporate.

'Cool…' she smirked at the floor before running at another.

Aidan held up his hand at one of the knights, freezing his arms and legs in a thick layer of ice. His hand stopped glowing and he calmly walked over to frozen warrior, taking the spear out of his hand and preparing to run him through,

'How'd you find me?' he asked.

'He's been looking for you ever since you ran away,' the knight replied, 'Now that your mother's on her last legs, _he_ can take it for himself!' although Aidan couldn't see it, he knew that the knight was smiling under the visor that was hiding his face.

'Hmm… We'll see about that,' he replied, putting the spear into the knights stomach, then he moved the spear backwards, using its double edge to take out the knight that was running at him from behind.

'I'll sort him out before he gets the chance to…' Aidan snarled to the bubbling water on the ground.

'Ow!' Piper winced in pain as a spearhead slashed a shallow cut into her arm, she gritted her teeth and fought the temptation to blow up the knight she was fighting, knowing that he would just respawn. Instead, she phased out and let the spear pass right through her. Much to the surprise of the warrior who fell through her, giving Piper the chance to throw the spear like a javelin into her enemy's back.

Paige pulled her spear out of the dying stomach of a knight and turned around just in time to notice a spear flying right at the back of her sister! It was too late for Piper to do anything, so Paige took action.

'Spear!' she called, Piper turned round to see where the light was coming from, the spear had been so close that she felt the orbs hit her face as Paige turned the spear in the opposite direction, killing its owner. After the warriors were defeated, the four of them walked into the centre of the Great Hall. Pam wore a grin on her face as she tapped the bottom of the spear off the floor.

'That was great! I didn't use my powers once!' she beamed.

'Maybe because while you were performing special moves, we were stopping spears from flying into your back!' Piper responded, waving her arm and wincing when the pain from her cut hit her.

'You okay?' Paige asked with a caring tone.

'Yeah, I'll just stick a band aid over it or something,' she waved it away.

Aidan threw his spear to the floor with a clatter, 'I'll be back later.' He said flatly, splashing out.

'What's his problem?' Pamela asked with her eyebrows raised.

'I don't know,' Paige picked up the spear and gave it a cold stare, 'But I'm going to find out,'

* * *

Emma rolled down the window and leaned her arm on the open space of the door, getting her sunglasses out of the glove compartment. She smiled, this road hadn't changed since the last time she had been on it, the sandy red mountains were still in the distance and the desert heat hadn't changed, as Emma now had the air conditioning on and the window down. 

She whizzed past a burnt out building, it looked like it had been a diner of some sort before it blew up. As she past it, she got a hit of familiarity and smiled, Phoebe probably stopped here on her way to Sanctuary, as it was the only explanation for the hit she had got. The radio had dyed a while ago, but it had been okay, as it gave the psionic the chance to try and sort out her thoughts about the last year and a half.

It had began when she had first met Paige at Christmas,

_Paige walked down the hall and crossed the courtyard to the other part of the building, she looked at her watch, it was only 2:30 and the sky was already dimming._

_I guess that's to be expected of a winter's night Paige thought, she wrapped her arms around herself and jogged across the rest of the way._

_She entered the potions department and heard voices coming from a classroom; she looked around the doorway and found who she was looking for._

_She guessed that the woman in the black robe was Miss deLauro, she was a lot younger than Paige expected, she looked about 25-30, she had red hair that went just past her shoulders and was wearing jeans and a turtle neck underneath her robes._

_The other woman looked about the same age, but she was a little shorter, and had long, blond, wavy hair. They hadn't noticed Paige standing at the door, as the redhead was wiping down the blackboard_

'_So I was talking to Jess a couple of days ago, he said that they have a new addition to the team,' and blond woman began._

'_Really? What's she like?'_

'_Apparently quite nice, she has powers like yours, but I'm planning on going up there, just to check her out, can't have an unwanted visitor in my house now can we?'_

'_Shal,' and redhead sighed 'You are so territorial, do me favour and try not to scare this one, okay?'_

'_Hey! That was only once and I can't help the fact that being territorial is imprinted in my genes,' Shal said with a laugh._

_Paige decided it was about time she interrupted, she knocked on the door and waited for a reply._

'_Can I help you?' the teacher said kindly._

'_Hopefully, are you Miss deLauro?' Paige asked_

'_Yeah, and call me Emma, what can I do for you? You don't look like a student,'_

'_I'm not,' Paige smiled 'I'm Paige by the way,' she held out her hand_

'_Well, I'm Emma,' she answered, shaking Paige's hand 'Oh! And this is my friend, Shalimar,'_

'_Nice to meet you,' Shalimar stepped forward and shook hands._

'_You too,' Paige smiled_

'_Alright, now you must have had a reason for coming here besides introductions,'_

_Paige laughed 'You're right, I was wondering if you have any powdered dragon scale?'_

'_Dragon scale? I think I've got some in the store cupboard, let me check,' Emma replied and went to the door at the back of the classroom._

'_Hey Em, I gotta run, I'll see you later,' Shalimar called to her friend_

'_Alright, bye!' she called from the store cupboard._

_Shalimar gave Paige a respectful nod as she left the room; she stopped at the doorway and said 'Merry Christmas,'_

'_Oh, you too,' Paige replied._

_Emma came out of the store holding a jar 'There you go! One jar of powdered dragon scale,'_

'_Thanks!'_

'_Powdered dragon scale huh? Must be a pretty powerful vanquishing potion you're making, but I wouldn't expect anything less from a Charmed One,' Paige gave her a shocked look 'Oh! It's just that Leo was telling me about his family this morning, and Paige isn't a common name, so I put two and two together…'_

_Paige nodded, although the explanation seemed a little far fetched, maybe it something to do with her powers… she would need to ask Leo about her later._

'_Uh… yeah! It is powerful, my sister and I are going after the Luna demons tonight so we need a kick ass potion, thanks again,'_

_'Alright! Nice meeting you! Merry Christmas!' Emma answered cheerfully before Paige orbed out._

Emma smiled, that must have been the first time that Mutant X and the Charmed Ones had collided, especially with Shalimar there.

It was good to remember.

* * *

Paige made a noise in frustration and slammed the Book Of Shadows closed, pushing it away from her to she could let her head fall onto the kitchen table with a thud. She picked up the spear and looked at the emblem that was engraved on the handle, there was a sword in the middle of it, with a fierce wave of water surrounding the sword. But what had Paige most baffled was the snake that was wrapped around the weapon, it looked familiar somehow. 

'Find anything?' Piper walked in with a laundry basket.

'No… Why do I feel as if we surpass the Book these days?'

Piper smirked, 'Because we do?'

Pamela appeared a tornado of white lights with a book in under her arm, 'Okay, this was all I could find that had any connection to knights,' she threw the book down on the table.

'Medieval History? C'mon Pam,' Paige looked at the book in disgust.

'Hey! When you look in the library for magical water knights, you can judge. And since our main source of info splashed out,'

'What are talking about?' Paige asked, getting defensive.

'Oh, come on! He knew they were coming, he knew how to kill them and he couldn't have got out of here faster,' she picked up the spear and was sucked into a premonition.

_'Let go of the struggle in your mind_

_And your health again, you will find,'_

_The four witches chanted the spell, and stepped back, as there were lights of blue, purple and red coming from the Elementals. They all had to turn away from light as the glow became even stronger. When it faded, everyone gasped at the divine sights before them._

_In Danielle's place, stood a large red dragon, although it looked scary, it had serenity about it. Its scales glowed with the heat of fire and it was staring at the sky._

_In Skye's place, stood a majestic bird, it softly padded the sand underneath it's feet and cooed slightly. It was a magnificent sight when it ruffled its feathers and took off._

_Paige gasped at the creature that was standing in place of her boyfriend; it had to be the most beautiful thing all of them had ever seen. A giant sea serpent was on the sand; its scales shimmered in the sunlight as it swayed back and forth, making it look like a rainbow. The creature lowered its head the nudged Paige, who smiled and stroked the magnificent beast._

_The dragon took off into the sky along with the bird, showing off their massive wingspans. The serpent nudged Paige again before swiftly turning round and jumping into the ocean. Paige remembered Skye's words about how his Aidan's scales sparkled in the sea, she had been right._

'What'd you see?' Piper asked.

'Uh… I saw you guys, and my mom, you guys said a spell and Aidan turned into a giant snake,'

'Yeah, we did that in the past, why would you get a vision of that from the spear?' Paige's eyes widened as she realized. Taking the spear off her niece she looked at the emblem again.

'You guys are right, Aidan is involved,'

'What makes you so sure?' Piper questioned as she sipped on a cup of tea.

'Because it would be a big coincidence if his elemental form is on this by accident,' she held up the spear, showing everyone that it was a sea serpent on the crest, and not a snake.

* * *

The three witches stood in the attic, Paige now flipping the pages of the Book, which had been returned to its pedestal. Piper stood next to her sister, trying to calm her down while Pamela sat with her nose in one of her school textbooks. 

'Paige, what are you hoping to find?' Piper inquired cautiously.

'Something… Anything that will help us find out where that spear came from,'

'We've already tried scrying, what other method do you think there is?'

'I don't know! I'm just… I'm sick of him keeping secrets from me, especially when it puts me and my family in danger. I'm gonna bust him this time,'

'Aidan?'

'Oh yeah,' she hadn't looked up during this whole conversation.

'Oh my God!' Pamela yelped from the chair that she was sitting on, 'I knew I had seen that mark somewhere!'

'Did you find something?' Paige walked over to her.

'Yeah… A big something. We did this in Magical History! I can't believe I forgot! It's just my luck this burst of knowledge comes after my exam…'

'What is it?' the youngest Charmed One urged.

Pamela turned the book around, 'There's our mark,' the emblem was in colour on the page, 'And it's… Wait for it, the crest of the Royal Family of Atlantis!'

'Atlantis… As in The Lost City of…?' Piper asked with her eyes bulging out of her head, her niece nodded in confirmation.

Paige's eyes flashed in anger and she went back to the Book, where she held her hands over it,

'Return To Sender spell!' she shouted, the pages began to move by themselves and landed on the spell that Paige had wanted.

'Paige, what are you doing?'

'We are going to Atlantis girls! Pack your bags!'

'What? We can't just go off to a Lost City! We don't even know where it is! That's why they call it Lost!'

'Um… Sorry Aunt Piper, but there's a Power Of Three spell in this textbook,' Pamela interjected.

'What? What kind of history book has a spell in it? That would make it slightly interesting,'

Piper looked at the book, there was a spell that would supposedly take them to Atlantis, but it wouldn't be a sure thing at the end of the day and none of them were even sure that this would lead to any answers. Piper looked at her sister and handed her the history textbook,

'It's up to you,' she said simply.

Paige was surprised, she was expecting Piper to put up a fight, she wasn't really expecting to make a decision for her sister and niece, and with Emma out of town, she couldn't look to her for guidance.

'Piper, every time, and I mean every time he has hidden something from _me_, it has bit _us_ in the ass! His elemental form, the elemental chamber, I need to know what he's hiding,'

Piper nodded slowly, they had all stood by love over the years, all except Paige, it was her turn, 'Alright, I'll make some potions that we might need and tell Leo what's going on,' she and Pamela began to walk off, 'Aren't you coming?'

'Uh… No,' Paige swayed slightly.

'You okay?'

'Yeah, I just need to sit down for a minute, I had a dodgy salad roll for lunch,' she smiled. Piper nodded and walked out of the attic, glancing at her sister on the way out. Paige sat down on of the old one-piece chairs in the attic, taking deep breaths and fighting off the nausea that she felt, hoping that it was just a dodgy salad roll.

* * *

'Aidan! Aidan get your ass down here!' Paige called towards the ceiling of the attic as Pam and Piper looked on awkwardly. She had been calling for ten minutes in a last attempt to give Aidan a chance to explain himself, if he didn't come, they would say the spell. 

'Alright, I've given him all the chances in hell…' Paige said sadly as she turned to her family, 'Where's the spell?' Pamela wordlessly passed her the open book, 'Let's go,'

Piper came up to her and rubbed her back, 'Are you sure you want to do this?'

Paige looked up and saw genuine concern in her sister's eyes, this made her smile as she had only seen this sort of concern in Phoebe's eyes up until now, 'Yeah…'

'Are you sure I should be going? I mean… we're going to an ancient city, I could turn it into a pile of rubble with the way my powers are right now,'

The oldest Halliwell laughed, 'We might need that if we're run into anymore of those knights!' she then gestured for her to come closer so she could see the spell, 'Are we ready?' Everyone nodded and Paige held out the spell to them.

'From lands afar and time and space,

Take us now from this, our place,

The ancient city, we now seek,

Take us to where its barrier's weak!'

At first, it seemed that nothing was happening, but a wind picked up in the room and grew even stronger when a howling dark blue portal appeared in the middle of the air, creating an amazing gust in the attic, blowing a lot of things out of their original places. Pamela was the first to jump in; the vortex glowed as she entered. Piper went in next, the portal hummed as she disappeared into the blue light. Just as Paige was about to walk into it, Aidan splashed in and saw the portal!

'Paige! Don't!' he shouted over the noise.

She looked between him and portal; 'Catch me if you can!' she jumped into the portal, leaving Aidan no choice.

* * *

Paige flew out the portal and rolled along the stone ground. Pamela and Piper helped her up and she looked around, it looked as if they were in an alley of some sort, although it wasn't the usual filthy ones of San Francisco, this one had nothing in it! It seemed just to be a space between two buildings. 

'Do you think it worked?' Pamela asked nobody in particular.

Aidan came through the portal, but he walked calmly and didn't roll across the ground like the others had. Paige had to assume this he had done this before.

'What the hell are you guys doing?' he hissed in a whisper.

Paige walked up to him, 'We're here to find out why you're Elemental form is on the crest of Atlantis,' she said calmly.

'Well, you guys need to reverse the spell now!'

'As long as you're willing to give us an answer,' Paige retorted with her arms folded, he didn't answer I guess we're staying,' she led Piper and Pamela down the alley. Aidan gritted his teeth in frustration and went after them. The three witches gasped in amazement when they saw what was outside of the alley. They seemed to be in a city centre of some sort, because to rabble of people haggling for prices at various stalls. But what was even more surprising than the amount of people was the beautiful structure of all the buildings! There are all made from some sort of blue stone, the ground was cobbled with the same type of stone and in the centre, there was a gold statue that shone in the in the sun, it was of a man and of the golden plac on the bottom, there was the same emblem that the girls had seen on the spear and in the book. Pamela ran her hand over the wall that was next to her, it was so smooth, and looked as if there was no cement that held the bricks together, that left her with one conclusion. Magic.

In the distance, they could see a humongous building; it had a tall tower that stood on top as if watching the entire city. It was a magnificent structure, a blue glow seemed to emit from it in the evening sun. There was another tall building that was emblazoned with the crest on its front, the large oak doors where open and people were coming out of it, it seemed to a cathedral.

'Okay, field trip's over, let's go!' Aidan grabbed Paige's arm, but she shook out of his grip.

'Aidan, what is going on?' she inquired, obviously tired of asking the same question. She put her hand on his chest and kissed him, 'Please…'

He sighed and stroked her hair, 'Okay… I'll tell you,'

'Uh…guys? I'm happy about the reconciliation and all, but I think we should move. Those same knights that attacked us are now coming our way!' Pamela warned, she was right! Same spear, same armour, same emblem.

'Splash us out of here! You seem to know your way around the place,' Paige urged her boyfriend.

'I… can't, transportation magic doesn't work here,' he growled and held onto Paige protectively as they became surrounded. Piper and Pamela moved closer to the couple so they would a stronger unit. The guards surrounded them the pointed their spears towards them, a light blue glow emitted from them, as if they were prepared to fire.

'Hold your fire!' a voice said, making all the soldiers lower their weapons and move back. The man who had shouted the order appeared in a surge of water, Paige took one look at him and knew he was bad news. The man seemed to be middle aged, as his jet black hair was beginning to grey; his eyes matched his hair, as they seemed grey, devoid of any life. His clothes suggested that he was important, as he wore a cape and his armour was a far more grander than the guards.

'Well, well, well, Prince Aidan, I never thought I'd see you again!' he said with a sneer. All the colour drained from Paige's face as she looked up to the Elementals face, he was burning with rage as he looked towards the man.

'P-Pr… Prince?' Paige whispered.

'Sorry General, but our reunion's going to have to be cut short!' he shouted, letting go of Paige and pulling a vial out of his pocket. He smashed the potion onto the ground and ice spread at an amazing speed, freezing all of the knights into place, 'Run!' Aidan ordered, grabbing Paige's hand and bolting into the alley with Piper and Pamela. They ran right to the bottom, skidding to a stop when they reached the dead end.

They were trapped.

* * *

Oh my! What's gonna happen? Now you know Aidan's past, what do you think?

**ANNOUNCEMENT**: Here's where you guys make the choice, I will wither write the second part the P & P finale, or I'll write the first part of the Mutant X finale! Get your reviews in quick, as I'll begin writing the most popular tomorrow!

Chapter 38 'You Decide!' will be up soon!


	38. How The Other Side Kills Part 1

Unique-deflection – You got your wish lol! I hope you like this chapter and thanks for the praise! If you like that cliffhanger then this one will take your breath away!

Pyrena – Hey! Phoebe will come back in 'United As Three' and I know! It's just Paige's luck lol! And about her pregnancy, you're going to have to wait to find out! When are you updating 'Destiny'? You left us on a cliffhanger!

Prince Halliwell – Here's the Mutant X finale! I'm glad you loved the chapter! And I love writing Pamela! Her and Lexa just come so easily to me! And like I told Pyrena, you'll need to wait and see with Paige being pregnant!

Andy20 – Sorry! But the second part of the P & P finale will be up quicker! And know you know Aidan's biggest secret lol!

Piperfairy – Although hardly anyone can imagine her as a mom, I think Paige would be a good parent! And you'll about Emma in this chapter!

Princess Pinky – Thanks! And Aidan really has gone too far this time; you can't hide things from a Halliwell lol! But every time he's hidden something, its came back on Paige and the others, so I agree with her too! The attacks? Do you mean the soldiers in Magic School? And thanks! I wanted to make Atlantis seem as real as possible! And sorry, but this is the Mutant X finale, but the next chapter should be up quicker!

Aniaka – LOL! I hope you've recovered from your shock! And you'll need to wait and see about Paige being pregnant, wow… a couple of cases of nausea and reviewers jump to conclusions lol! And I hope you like the second part of the P & P finale! Here's the Mutant X finale! And don't worry about Emma; she's in it for the long haul and not going anywhere! Okay, I'll be waiting to see your favourite, if you read this chapter closely, you'll notice a little tribute to you, I'm going to try and fit my reviewers into these last chapters!

**How The Other Side Kills Part 1**

Phoebe awoke slowly, seeing the numbers of her digital clock, which read four fifty one. The door that led to the nursery was open slightly, and had a faint glow coming from it, and unless she was mistaken, she could hear humming from the other room, like electricity. She immediately realised what it was and jumped out of the bed and walked briskly into the nursery to see Connor with his electric shield up, he was whimpering and Gabriel Ashlocke stood over him! Without saying a word, Phoebe fired a psionic blast at the super mutant, but it passed through him harmlessly and hit the wall, he smirked at her.

'Can't hurt what isn't there,' he murmured, fading away.

Phoebe diffused the mental energy still floating above her and rushed to her son, who had now went into full-blown crying. Brennan appeared at the door, rubbing his eyes and groaning, but when he saw the look on Phoebe's face and way she was holding her son so close, he woke up instantaneously.

'What's wrong? You look as if you've seen a ghost!'

Phoebe closed her eyes and put Connor so he could see over her shoulder, she held the back of his head gently, but firmly, 'You have no idea how close you are,' she whispered.

'Another apparition?' Brennan walked up to her and caressed her arm.

She nodded vigorously, 'Yeah, except Connor sensed it this time. Brennan, if he had hurt him…'

'Hey, he didn't and he can't. He's just doing this to scare you,'

'Yeah, well, it's working,'

They stood in the noise of Connor's screaming for a minute, 'What's he feeling?' Brennan asked, knowing that his fiancé had empathically connected with their son as soon as she had picked him up.

'He's not scared. He's just upset and confused, you know, he sensed a threat yet he couldn't see it.' She bobbed up and down slightly, giving the baby a little movement, which helped him clam down.

'Look, why don't you go back to bed and get some sleep? I'm his father, I'm just as qualified to look after him as you are,' he smiled, 'I won't let anything happen to him, I promise,'

Phoebe smiled back, 'I know you won't,' she carefully handed her child to his father, 'You should get some sleep too, we're both tired,' she leaned up and kissed him, before returning to the bedroom.

* * *

A weary Shalimar shuffled into the kitchen, her eye mask still on. Phoebe gave her a wide eyed look, wondering how she could see where she was going with her blindfold of a sleeping aid, Phoebe was even more surprised when Shal poured herself a cup of coffee without even hesitating. 

'How do you do that?' Phoebe asked.

Shalimar smiled, 'The joys of being a feral… Although getting woke up four times a night by a crying baby can make you curse your enhanced hearing,'

The psionic rolled her eyes, 'Tell me about it. One time was serious though, my imaginary friend came after Connor last night,'

Shal whipped the sleeping mask over her head, 'He tried to get to Connor?'

'Yeah. He couldn't though, he's still just an astral projection at the end of the day, but…' she wrapped her hands around her coffee mug even more, 'It still doesn't stop him scaring me and my son half to death,'

The feral moved closer, 'We'll get him. I promise,'

Phoebe smiled weakly, 'Thanks.'

Lexa groaned as she walked slowly into kitchen, keeping her eyes closed as she felt her way around, not nearly being as graceful as Shalimar had been.

'Rough night?' Phoebe asked with a grimace, she only got a moan in response.

'Okay, all I need is my coffee and I'll be ready,' she gave a weary eyed answer and went back to her room with a coffee in hand, slamming the door on her way.

'It's amazing. I haven't been hear for over two years and she's still not a morning person!' Shal grinned as her feral hearing picked up the sound of Lexa flopping back into bed.

'Well, that's what she gets for staying up till five in the morning. Why was she up so late anyway?'

'I have no idea. Lexa's sleeping patterns are wilder than my own,'

* * *

'Are you sure you want to do this?' 

'Absolutely. I haven't been out on the field for ages, I need some practice!'

'Yeah Lex, and we'll be here in case she's a bit rusty!'

Phoebe, Lexa, and Shal walked into the scrap metal lot. Lexa had felt severely left out when her team-mates had levitated and jumped over the barbed wire fence, while she had to make her own path by cutting a whole out of the fence with her powers.

The three of them spread out cautiously, looking for the contact that supposedly had information on what the latest plans of the Strand were, since they had had no leads so far as to what they were planning.

'Pheebs, what are you getting?' Shalimar asked, looking over her surroundings with golden eyes.

'Hmm… Nothing. Actually we're the only people within a mile radius,' The psionic narrowed her eyes; using her powers to track down the person they were looking for.

'Yeah, well… You might not be able to sense the life, but I can smell the death,'

'Okay, I'm starting to feel left out! I can't sense anything!' Lexa joked.

'If you want to smell the tang of blood and the stench of rotting flesh, be my guest.' The feral grinned, while Lexa just grimaced,

'No thanks,'

'Okay, I'll go this way, you guys go to the left and right,' Phoebe walked forward while the Lexa went to the right and Shal went to the left, 'Just holler if you get anything,'

Phoebe walked through the rows of rusting cars, looking for anything that might look out of the ordinary. Her psychic sense was picking up nothing and after hearing about what Shal had sensed, she was beginning to form some suspicions. She was suddenly hit with a cluster of thoughts that were surrounding her from all angles; Strand members lunged out from every space possible surrounding her. Phoebe smiled and took a fighting stance.

'That's right boys, this bitch is back!' she spat, levitating and kicking both of the Links that had ran at her from opposite sides. She quickly sought out her friends psychically to make sure they were at a safe enough distance, once she was sure they were safe, she concentrated and released a powerful wave of psychic energy, blasting all of the Links back into the rusting wreckage and leaving Phoebe to smile proudly to herself.

* * *

Shalimar was defeating her opponents with a series of amazing martial arts moves which only her kind would be able to perform without being geared up with equipment! An energy ball came at her; she jumped into the air and spun, dodging a barrage of lightning, fire, and any other thing that the Links could throw at her. 

'Die, witch!' a man shouted before putting his hands together and releasing a concussive wave at the feral. Shal landed back on the ground and jumped backwards at an amazing speed and height, then using her strength to push one of the rusting cars onto a cluster of members, who narrowly dodged it by one of them stalling the tumbling vehicle with a telekinetic gesture.

'Clever!' Shal taunted, before baring her pearly whites and leaping towards a woman that had threw acid at her. The woman was unconscious before she had even hit the ground, as the feral had delivered a series of lethal punches in fast succession.

* * *

Lexa released another dazzle, blinding the gunners temporarily and throwing out a couple of lasers to match, but it wasn't working as they were wearing a suit that was repellent to her powers. Another barrage of bullets hit the rusting hood of a car that Lexa was hiding behind, the sharp pinging sound of bullets pounding the metal irritated her more than hurt her. She decided to take a chance and turned invisible, running out to the men and taking them out with martial arts. One of the gunmen clicked a switch on his weapon; his sight scope changed and showed up the heat on Lexa's body. He fired at her leg, shooting her ankle and making her fall to the ground, losing her cloak of invisibility in the process. She grimaced in pain and gritted her teeth, holding her ankle in pain as the masked attacker moved towards her and ripped off his mask, reveal Gabriel Ashlocke! 

'What's the matter? No witty retort?' he grinned and grabbed her arm.

'Phoebe! Shal!' she shouted into the air, hoping her friends would come to her aid. The super mutant cursed and took his hand across her face before fading out. Phoebe and Shalimar came around the bend just in time to see their friend fade from view.

* * *

Jesse was typing furiously on the computer, trying to track Lexa's comlink. Andy wasn't having any luck sensing her so they were taking the technical approach. Brennan walked in with his hands in his back pockets, standing next to Jesse and looking at the screen. 

'Had any luck yet?' he asked, sitting down at the other computer.

'Nope. How's my godson?' Jesse asked as he raised a coffee mug to his lips.

'I just put him down for a nap,' Brennan replied and waved the baby monitor at his friend, Jesse smiled, 'What?'

'Shouldn't the roles be reversed? Us being out in the battle while the woman folk look after the children?'

Brennan laughed, 'Well, in case you haven't noticed, we're not the kind of family that you see on the sides of cereal boxes, and I'm not going to neglect raising my son because of society's ideals,'

Jesse raised his eyebrows, 'Okay, first of all, I was joking. And second of all, that has to be the most intelligent and non sexist thing you have ever said!'

'Well, you weren't the only one who got an education!' he grinned.

Phoebe and Shalimarwalked in from the hangar, both with stormy looks on their faces and obviously in the middle of an argument about what had happened.

'We shouldn't have let her go alone. She couldn't sense her enemies coming like we could,' Phoebe.

'Lex is a big girl. She doesn't need a psychic radar or heightened senses to stay alive,' Shal retorted.

'Shal, they had a plan. They knew we would split up, they knew to send gunners after Lexa, they even knew how to get around her invisibility!' she turned to Jesse, 'How did we fight Links while Lexa had to fight commando's?'

'Well… Like you said, they had a plan and their objective must have been to take Lexa from the beginning. Heat seeking guns would have easily took her down while a feral with vision like Shal's wouldn't have been able to compete with the speed of Lexa's powers even if they could see her body heat.' Adam walked in with Andy at his side, holding a touch screen console in his hand.

'How's the search going?'

'Not good. We're getting nothing both magically and technically,' Jesse replied.

'Okay, well, let the girls take over. I need you two to go pick up a friend of mine, her name is Cassandra Hughes,'

'Oh, I'm sorry,' Phoebe butted in sarcastically, 'Will this friend betray us or be dead like the last two?'

'Phoebe!' Andy scolded her.

'No! We bring in his precious deflective mutant, I almost lose my child, we go to meet his informant, and we lose Lexa. What's next, huh? Maybe we should all lose a limb!' she stormed off towards the nursery, taking off her brown suede jacket in the process and viciously throwing it to the ground while the others exchanged worried glances.

* * *

Lexa was thrown to the floor in her cell, the metal clanged loudly as the door was closed and locked. The two men looked down at her with smug grins on their faces. She spat some of blood out of her mouth and struggled to stand up, thanks to her injured ankle. 

'You think putting me in a cage can stop me?' she taunted, disappearing in a burst of light in an attempt to flash out of her prison, but the bars glowed a yellow colour as she disappeared and she reappeared, stumbling to the floor from the impact. The Links chuckled at her before leaving the room and letting Gabriel Ashlocke in.

'I trust everything is to your liking Miss Pierce?' he taunted.

She looked around her cell, 'You're not one for clutter, I'll give you that. Three stars at best, four if you get me a mag, some coffee and my whitelighter, that bullet wound's a real bitch,' she looked down at her ankle.

Gabriel just smiled, 'Sorry, although your other friends will be joining you soon. That is after I make The Child Of Storms my child,' he grinned.

Lexa gave him a confused expression, 'The Child Of Storms?…' her eyes widened, 'You stay away from my godson!' she threw a laser at the bars, which just absorbed the searing light.

He grinned again, 'Whadda ya say? Four stars now?' he laughed and walked out the room, opening and closing the door with telekinesis.

'How about some room service!' Lexa shouted in a vain attempt to get his attention.

'God… Seven years and you still haven't learned to keep your mouth shut!' a voice from the adjoining cell said under a blanket.

'Hmm… I didn't know blankets could talk, why don't you come out and show me those baby blues?'

The person threw their blanket off and Lexa gasped in shock, then regained her composure, 'Well, well, well, Riley Morgan as I live and breath, I never thought I'd see you again,'

Riley smiled, although it was more of a grimace, 'The feelings mutual, believe me,' he put a hand through his messy black hair. Lexa had known Riley from back when she worked for the GSA, they had worked together on assignments almost all the time and had become war buddies, they weren't friends, but they had trusted each other at one point.

'I can't believe you were stupid enough to get captured!' he grinned again.

'Coming from the person who looks like he hasn't had a shower in a week, not to mention a shave. What's the matter? Your deal with the Dominion gone sour?'

'Damn right it has! Especially since you and Mutant X buddies took them down two years ago!'

It was Lexa's turn to smile, 'We did the whole world a favour, trust me,'

'Oh really? Rumours were saying that you had actually put down your roots in Adam's rock,'

'You shouldn't believe everything you here,' she replied, sitting down and leaning on the wall, 'So tell me, why haven't you escaped yet? Someone with your powers could level this back wall in a second,' she clicked her fingers.

'Well, I've just been waiting for an accomplice to occupy that jail cell, you interested?' he raised his eyebrow.

Lexa nodded slowly, 'Just like old times…'

* * *

Phoebe stood over her sleeping son peacefully, watching his little chest move up and down in time with his breathing. She was careful not to make a sound as she watched him; there was something about being there with him that calmed her down somehow. She heard the shuffling of Brennan's feet as he came up behind her and put his arms around her waist while leaning his head on her shoulder. 

'You wanna tell what all that was about?' he whispered in her ear.

Phoebe closed her eyes and sighed, 'It's just… Ashlocke has really got me spooked, Bren. I was scared when he tried to take Connor, that fear never went away, and now this whole thing with Lexa has just magnified everything and I'm scared that we won't be able to defeat him,' He kissed her cheek and held on to her tighter, she frowned and turned around, 'Where's my confidence speech?' she smiled at him.

He sighed, 'If you can't believe in everything that we've done in the past year and a half, nothing I say can change your mind,' she scowled, 'Look, you want to protect Connor, don't you?' she nodded immediately, 'And you want to help protect our friends, right?' Phoebe nodded again, 'Okay then, just think of those desires and you'll do great,'

Phoebe smiled at him; she was reminded of the pep talks that Leo would give her and he sisters before a big battle. She moved closer to him and put her arms behind his back, inviting him into a hug, Brennan reciprocated and rubbed her back and kissed her head. She gulped and pulled away.

'C'mon, you need to go and pick up Adam's friend. Shal and I will stay here and find Lexa,' she hit his chest and he walked away, leaving Phoebe to watch over the slumbering child in the crib.

* * *

Gabriel walked into his room with a smirk on his face, he had just came from Lexa's jail cell and had enjoyed feeling the rage and fear that emitted from her. His second in command was waiting for him. 

'Is everyone ready?' the psychotic mutant asked, his lackey merely nodded, 'Good, we'll move on my command,'

'Where will we be going, Gabriel?'

Ashlocke and looked out of his window, 'We're going to Sanctuary,'

* * *

Brennan clicked some switches that were above him in the Helix, 'Okay, I'm bringing her down,' he took control again and guided the jet down onto the roof of a hospital. Andy had come with them in case things got rough with this mutant, he would be here to heal them in case they were injured, like the last two times they had went to a contact. 

'What do you think of all this?' Jesse asked him.

'I don't know man… Let's just get this girl and get back, I'm really not in the mood for any more surprises,' the molecular nodded in agreement.

'Alright Andy, what you getting?' Brennan pressed a button and opened the hatch to let everyone out.

'Yeah, I'm getting someone, although it might not be the person we're looking for,' he warned.

'Let's go then!' the three of them walked out of the jet.

* * *

Lexa stared at the wall of her prison while listening to Riley whistle a tune, they had been sitting in there for three hours now and no one had came to see them yet. She had tried every way of contacting Mutant X, her comlink, calling for Andy, even using the Finding Light spell that would guide her friends to her, but the globe of light fizzled out as soon as it reached the metal bars of the cell. 

She lost her temper, 'Stop whistling that damn tune!' she kicked the bars in frustration, then gasping in pain after forgetting about her shot ankle.

'Relax. I see you're still as tightly wound as ever,' he replied.

She was about to respond, when the door to the room swung open and Ashlocke walked with a little girl. She was very pale and looked as if she hadn't eaten in days, her hair was jet black and run down just past her shoulders and her eyes were about the same colour. Which repulsed the light molecular in the cell.

'Oh my God…' she breathed.

'Oh, you like her?' Gabriel rested his hand in the little girls head, 'This is Aniaka, she's one of our up and coming Links,'

'What the hell did you do to her?'

'I just made her a little more obedient, you'd be amazed how much a child screams after witnessing her mothers murder,'

'You son of a-,' she didn't finish her sentence as she launched a laser at the metal bars, in a futile attempt to escape. Gabriel laughed at her,

'Aw… C'mon Lexa, Aniaka just wants to play with you,' he took his hand off her head and the small child walked over to the cell. Lexa knelt down so she was at eye level with the kid, and she was surprised when the little girl hit her with a psionic blast, making her head jerk back.

'Oh, did I forget to mention Aniaka's a telempath? Now you're going to tell me everything I want to know,'

'In your dreams!' Lexa spat

He laughed, 'We'll see about that. Where is Sanctuary?'

Before she could respond with 'Drop dead,' her body and mind betrayed and started to explain everything about her home! Access codes, entry points, everything! After the interrogation was over, the only thing Lexa could think of was…

'Oh crap,'

* * *

The guys looked around the dark room with flashlights and Andy's orbs lighting a path, the hospital used the top floor for storing supplies so they wouldn't be disturbed unless there was a sudden need for surgery gowns. They had had no luck so far, although Andy was positive the person was close. 

'You got anything, Jess?' Brennan inquired, shining his flashlight into yet another corner.

'Nothing, zip, nada, zilch,' he responded with a bored tone in his voice.

Brennan was suddenly overcome with a feeling like he was floating, he shook it off and tried to start walking again, the only problem was the ground was three feet below his feet, he was hovering above the floor some how! He looked around, seeing that Andy and Jesse were in the same position.

'What the hell is going on?' Jesse yelped.

'Does it look like I know?' Andy shouted.

A woman came out from the darkness, she had blonde hair down to her shoulders and her blue eyes glinted in the beam from the flashlight. She looked up to them with a steely glare and narrowed her eyes slightly.

'You Adam's people?' she asked with a young voice, she looked about twenty-nine.

'Let me guess, you're a telekinetic?' Jesse asked her as his legs flailed in the air.

'Wow, someone knows his mutations!' she said with a fake impressed tone, 'Answer my question of I'll bring you down on your heads,'

'Yeah, Adam sent us to pick you up,' Brennan answered before she carried out her threat.

'Where's your proof?' she scowled with a suspicious look.

Jesse took his comlink off of his finger and threw it at her, 'Here's your proof,'

She picked it up and compared it to a ring on her own finger, she laughed, 'I can't remember the last time I actually used mine…' Cassy whispered to herself. The three men suddenly fell to the ground unharmed, just with their ego's bruised.

Jesse caught his ring as she threw it back to him, 'You were in Mutant X?'

'A long time ago. Where have you got the Helix?'

'On the roof,'

They stood there for a minute, 'What are you boys waiting for? An order? Let's go!' the three men quickly jumped into action, cursing under their breath.

* * *

'Okay, this is stupid!' Phoebe slammed her fist down on the keyboard, 'We can't contact her through any frequency, and even my powers are jammed every time I try to contact her!' 

Shal looked up from the computer on the side of the desk, 'You're not a very patient person, are you?'

'Not when one of my friends lives are at stake,' they went back to typing until a loud thundering blast rocked the entire place, making all the lights flicker and the computers go off.

'What the hell was that!' Phoebe exclaimed, quickly typing on the keyboard to bring up the surveillance footage. She gasped in horror when she saw Strand members pounding the main door with the their powers, with Gabriel Ashlocke standing behind them, releasing energy blasts.

'Okay people, we have a Strand assault on our hands!' she announced, 'Connor!' she ran to the nursery while Shalimar ran to the lab to alert Adam.

Adam was punching a series of codes onto his touch screen console; the alarm began to sound as the Links broke through the first layer of enchanted security. Shal scanned the screen and saw the Links repeating the process on the next iron door.

'Shal I need you to lock down the hangar, the garage, even the walk in entrance, anything they could use as a way to get in, I want closed!' he yelled over the din of the alarm and the attacks smashing off the cliff and shaking it to its core. Phoebe walked in, holding Connor tightly to her chest before handing him over to Adam hesitantly.

'His shield will protect you, but I want you to protect him if we…' she trailed off.

Shalimar pulled at her arm slightly, 'C'mon, you get the hangar and walk in entrance, I'll get the garage and the tunnels,' Phoebe nodded in response and ran out of the lab after her friend.

'I'll keep you posted by comlink!' Adam shouted after them.

Phoebe ran towards the way to the hangar, reaching it's entrance and punching in the lock down code, the magicked gate down from the ceiling with a hiss and covered the space that would allow anyone in.

'Andy!' she shouted, he didn't come, Phoebe guessed that Ashlocke had already cut all communications with his powers, 'Adam! I need you shut down the outside hangar door! All the computers out here are down!' she shouted, cursing at the sizzling computer in the main area of Sanctuary.

'Okay Phoebe, how are you doing Shalimar?' he worked quickly and heard the humming of the large mechanical doors that on the outside of the cliff, closing down.

Shalimar finally stopped spraying the fire extinguisher and looked to see if the fire was out, it had taken her a lot of courage to fight the blaze, as her mutation gave her a natural fear of fire, 'The tunnel door circuitry's fried! I can't initiate the lock down!'

'What about the garage?'

'It's been closed down! But I can hear people coming up through the tunnels!'

'Okay, the hangar and walk in entrance are closed!' Phoebe came into their conversation.

'Alright, Phoebe I need you help Shal defend the tunnel door! I'll try and shut it down from here!' Adam shouted, he had now gone back to the keyboard as he had Connor in his left arm.

'Okay!' she screeched into her comlink, running towards the feral's direction.

The two witches stood at the edge of the tunnel, even Phoebe could now hear the footsteps of the approaching enemy. Most of their home was now unorganised and small fires were sprouting from the computers that were overheating. Phoebe took a deep breath and turned to her friend.

'Shal, I have a way to keep these guys from reaching us, but I'm going to have to erase your memory afterwards, do you trust me?' Shalimar gave her a confused look then nodded, 'Okay…' she pushed her away slightly, 'Stand back!'

Phoebe began to concentrate, although this wasn't her most powerful gift, it was hard to control and master so she would need no interruptions. Thinking of the path that stood before her, she slowly channelled a spear of psychic energy into the tunnel, gradually at first, but once she had gotten used to guiding the power, it shot through the tunnel at incredible speed, hitting all of the Links members that were in the labyrinth at the time and knocking them out. The energy stopped at the outside entrance and spread across the hole, letting no one in, the same thing happened at the door where Phoebe was standing, trapping everyone within the caves. Although a normal person's sight wouldn't see it, Shal could see the air distort around the hole, making her think there was some sort of force field there.

'Wow… What did you do?' she breathed.

'It's like a psychic guided missile, no one getting in or out of those caves until I let down the shield,'

'Impressive…' a voice said, the two turned around and saw Gabriel Ashlocke standing with Connor in his arms!

Phoebe's heart began to race, 'How did you…'

'Oh, it was simple. Especially after getting rid of Adam,' he smiled at them as Connor screamed his lungs out. Phoebe ran at the super mutant, murder burning in her eyes, but Ashlocke put up his hand and she froze in mid stride, he walked over to her and whispered something in her ear, she unfroze and immediately fell asleep. Gabriel stopped her from falling with one of his arms as he carried Connor in the other.

'If you think that's gonna work on me then you've got another thing coming…' Shalimar growled, her pupils narrowing and her eyes turning yellow.

'Oh, I know my little kitty. Now!' he yelled, one of the Links threw out their hands, five small dart shaped objects flew from his hand, hitting Shalimar's leg. He gasped in pain and pulled out the darts, before falling to the floor and into a sleep.

'Grab her, we're done here,'

* * *

Brennan ran into the ruins of Sanctuary, 'Phoebe! Phoebe!' everyone jumped as one of computers sparked brightly and loudly. Andy closed his eyes and tried to see if anyone was still in the place, he could pick up something, but it was faint. 

'Someone's still here, but they're on the brink,' Andy stated.

Brennan looked around before running towards the nursery, 'Connor!' he disappeared into the room.

'Who's Connor?' Cassy asked Jesse.

'His new born son,' the molecular replied.

'Okay, let's split up, I'll check the lab and the rest of you look around the other. Any questions?' Jesse and Andy shook their heads, 'Good,' Cassy walked off as the others went off in the other direction.

'You get the feeling that she likes being in control?' Jesse asked the whitelighter.

'Oh yeah,'

The lab door didn't hiss open like it usually did, so Cassy focused and the door opened on her minds command. She looked around the destroyed lab, remembering it's former glory, hearing a cough coming from the other side of the room, she used her power and the piece of debris flew off the floor and hit the wall, revealing Adam underneath it!

'You guys!' She shouted, alerting the others to her location. Brennan ran in, looking to see if his family were among anyone injured, 'Relax, it's Adam. Ashlocke must have taken the others,' Jesse and Andy ran in, Andy kneeling down and healing the genius. Adam sat up with a groan and was immediately bombarded with questions.

'Adam, what happened?'

'Where's Shal?'

'Where's Connor and Phoebe?'

Adam put up his hands, signalling for them to stop for a minute, he sighed and put his hand on his forehead, 'We need to talk,'

* * *

Mutant X, Cassy and Andy now stood in the wreckage of the main computer area, discussing what they needed to do next. None of them had thought of any good plans as of yet. 

'We'll have to find them first,' Cassy stated.

'Yeah, but we can't find them through any way. How will we find them all?' Jesse asked

'Well, I don't know! But that's the first step before we start making battle plans!'

'Who put you in charge?' Brennan challenged her.

'No one, but since I'm the only one not moping I'm the most qualified!' she spat.

'Look, this is what we need…' Brennan began, 'We need a location, we need floor plans, we need potions, we need spells, we need…'

'What you need… Is me,' Everyone turned around to see who had spoken. Brennan, Jesse and Adam's jaws hit the floor when they saw Emma DeLauro leaning on the wall of the hangar door.

* * *

Well? What do you think of that? I had massive writers block with this chapter but I think I got through it!

Chapter 39 'Here Come The Water Works Part 2' will be up soon!


	39. Here Come The Water Works Part 2

I'm too tired to write responses right now, but a BIG THANK YOU to all who reviewed! I hope you enjoy the first conclusion! 

**Here Come The Water Works Part 2**

'Well, well, well, Prince Aidan, I never thought I'd see you again!' he said with a sneer. All the colour drained from Paige's face as she looked up to the Elementals face, he was burning with rage as he looked towards the man.

'P-Pr… Prince?' Paige whispered.

'Sorry General, but our reunion's going to have to be cut short!' he shouted, letting go of Paige and pulling a vial out of his pocket. He smashed the potion onto the ground and ice spread at an amazing speed, freezing all of the knights into place, 'Run!' Aidan ordered, grabbing Paige's hand and bolting into the alley with Piper and Pamela. They ran right to the bottom, skidding to a stop when they reached the dead end.

They were trapped.

* * *

'Uh… Okay this would be a good time to think of an escape plan!' Piper said shakily. Pamela gestured towards the wall, attempting to blow it up and make a quick escape route, but the wall glowed and the blast had no effect. Aidan suddenly reached into his shirt, pulling out a pendent, which had the family crest on it. He held it up to the light and said muttered something. The pendant glistened in the sunlight and four glyphs appeared on the ground, they shone in a bright blue colour as they began to swirl around Aidan.

'Come closer!' he shouted, his eyes still closed as if he was concentrating on maintaining the circle of white light beneath him. The girls did as he said and moved onto the glowing disk, there was a bright flash and they disappeared just as the squad of knights charged down the alley. The general pushed to the front of the guards and cursed.

'Damn! He still has the royal pendant!' he cursed and heard the clanging of armour behind him, 'Keep the castle completely surrounded! And don't let Queen Undine out of your sight!' all of the soldiers nodded and ran off, leaving the man seething in the alleyway………

Paige looked around. They were in a tunnel that seemed to be built with the same stone and magic that the buildings on the surface were made of. The royal symbol decorated the walls, spaced out evenly and casting a watery pattern on her face as she passed.

'Where are we? A sewer?' Pamela grimaced at the thought of being in a sewer.

Aidan laughed, 'No, these tunnels can only be accessed by the royal family. They here as an escape route in case of an emergency,'

'So I take it running from invincible knights qualifies?' Paige spat.

He looked at his feet, 'I deserve that…'

'You told me that you were given up as child and spent most of your life in an orphanage, to me; your entire life has been a lie. How could you? Did the fact that you're magical royalty just slip your mind?'

'Could you have handled it, Paige? Who says I need to tell you every detail about my life?'

'No one!' she stomped towards him, 'But you just down right lied to me!'

'If you hadn't went snooping around my private life then this wouldn't have happened!'

Paige's eyes flashed with anger and she brought her hand across his face, 'Your so-called 'private life' put hundreds of students in danger today! And what you call snooping is me, yet again, cleaning up after one of your secrets!' Aidan recoiled from the slap the said nothing, Paige let out an ironic laugh, 'That's what I thought…' she stormed off down the tunnel with tears streaming down her face.

'Paige! Paige, come back! You don't know where you're going!' Piper shouted, 'I'll go get her,'

She stopped running and fell to her knees in tears. Paige could hear footsteps coming from behind her, she squeezed her eyes shut, 'Aidan, I really don't want to…' she saw her sister kneel down in front of her, 'Piper… Just leave me alone,'

Piper smiled, 'Heh… I leave my sister to rot? C'mon,' she pulled her sister to her feet and wiped her eyes in a motherly fashion, 'Well, no one can say you're a pushover. His cheek's still red!'

'He deserved it…' she growled, the anger still hadn't burned out in her voice.

'Honey, getting lost in a labyrinth isn't going to help,'

The young Halliwell laughed and took her hands over her face, 'I'm sorry, it's just that all this…' she waved at the glyph on the wall, 'Is so overwhelming…'

'I know. It is for all of us, but the sooner we sort this out, the sooner we can get out of here, so c'mon,' she began to drag Paige back in the direction which they had come. The four of them stood basking in the watery sheen, deadly silent and standing awkwardly until Pamela broke the ice.

'Not to break up the chit chat, but what's our plan?'

'Our plan…' Aidan walked away slightly, 'Is for you guys to reverse your spell and leave this to me,'

'Nope. No way,' Paige responded calmly.

'Paige, if you think I'm going to let you get hurt then you've got another thing coming!'

'Aidan, if you think I'm going to let you go alone then you've got another thing coming!' Paige mimicked him with raised eyebrows. Aidan put his hands behind his head and sighed, 'Face it. You're not getting rid of us,' her sister and niece came to stand at either side of her to get her point across.

'Ugh… Alright, but this place isn't like the outside, magic is amplified here so watching your gestures,' he looked at Pamela in particular.

'Great, just what I need, another power boost…' the teen rolled her eyes and they began to walk down the tunnel.

* * *

General Kahn took a deep breath as he opened the glass doors of the royal chambers. The doors were filled with water that cast an aquatic glow across the floor, the entire palace was filled with doors and glass sculptures like this, it really was a magnificent piece of magical architecture. Queen Undine stood proudly in front of her throne, icy blue eyes staring at the person who was entering, she was a beautiful woman with dark blue hair flowing gracefully to her lower back and pale skin making her smile even more delightful. She must have looked like the reincarnation of an ice queen, but her people knew that she was deeply compassionate and would do anything for her people. Today however, her face was like stone as she watched General Kahn kneel in front her. She narrowed her eyes as an uneasy smile spread across his face,

'Your Majesty, I-,'

'Silence!' she boomed, making the soldiers in the chamber jump slightly, 'Do not pollute my halls with the lies that flow from your silver tongue! I could sense the malice in your heart and betrayal in your mind as soon as it was spawned! I know that you have found my son within the city walls and I will not let you harm him!' she glanced at the soldiers in the room, 'Detain him!'

The clanking of armour rattled through the hall as the soldiers surrounded the traitorous general, holding their spears at him with the tips glowing like when they had charged magic school. The general smirked and waved his hands, the knights screamed in pain and steam began to seep from the small crevices in their armour, all of them exploded at the same time and left no trace of them ever being there.

Kahn let a smug look cross his face; 'I've ruled over your army for a century, I know all their weaknesses.'

Undine snarled at her foe and her eyes began to glow, ice crusting over them as her expression darkened, 'How dare you trifle with the gods! You shall feel the wrath of your treachery ten fold! Aquilo ventus!' she shouted, holding out her hands and a chilling wind sprung forth from her palms, the harshness of the cold slashing holes through the General's clothes and skin.

'You can't stop me… Undine.' He was on his knees in exhaustion, 'Your kingdom will be mine!'

She wasn't about give up, her eyes darting around the room and looking for weapons. Undine smiled when she realised that the walls were covered with swords, maces, athames and more destructive tools. She brought her hands in front her and side to side of each other, making a gesture by raising her small and index fingers, 'Incede! Incede!' she chanted. Slowly all the weapons began to float off of the wall and fly at Kahn, whirring and spiralling towards their target. Kahn breathed in and his body dissolved into water, the weapons passing through the watery figure and hurtling into the opposite wall.

'How did you learn of that ability without my knowing?' she let her arms fall to her sides.

'I've been training for this confrontation…' he growled, 'And I've been getting some outside help,' he wiggled his fingers and an energy ball appeared in his awaiting palm with a crackle.

'Demon…' Undine's eyes widened in realization as he threw the energy ball, 'Reverto!' she screamed, the attack bouncing off her raised hand and flying back at the General, who stumbled back while holding his newly injured shoulder.

'I shall return! And with the blood of your precious son on my hands!'

'You shall not harm a hair on his head as long as I breathe!'

He grinned manically, before shimmering out and leaving the Queen to try and form a plan, and the first part of her plan was locating her son in the tunnels.

* * *

The Halliwells and Aidan had been walking in the tunnels for at least an hour; they would take the odd turn now and again. Pamela had even got so bored that she had tried to see a pattern to the way Aidan was leading them in, but after forty turns she gave up and went back to moaning.

'Aidan, do you know where we're going?' she asked wearily.

'Yeah, I remember,' he replied.

Pamela stopped dead in her tracks, 'You remember? Don't you have some sort of magical unforgettable knowledge about this place? Please don't say you've been going on instinct!'

He cringed, 'Well…'

She sighed and dropped to her knees dramatically, 'Great, I'm going to die in a sewer,'

'No one's dying in a sewer!' Piper waved the suggestion away, 'We're dying in a tunnel,' she added flatly, stopping to sit down.

'We need to keep moving,' the elemental urged.

'Why?' Paige challenged him, 'You said only the royal family could get in here, what's the danger?'

'And I think we're doing pretty well considering that we've been deprived of light and oxygen,' the oldest sister argued.

'That's exactly why we need to move!' he looked around, 'It's only a matter of time before we run out of air!'

'How ironic,' Pamela stood up, 'The Royals come here to stay alive, only to die here,'

'It's not that far now,' Aidan began to walk again, 'It should be just up here,'

'Where are we going exactly?' Paige caught up to him; their march had now resumed.

'The palace. We can talk with my mother, Undine and tell her about Kahn,' Pamela frowned when she heard the name Undine.

'Kahn… Would that be the general?'

'Yeah, he's always been like this. He's also the main reason I ran away all those years ago,'

Paige linked arms with him, 'Why did you run away?'

He sighed, 'Kahn has always wanted this kingdom for himself, but he's never had the power to do it. When I was born, he though that he could use my power to dethrone my mother. I spent years evading his attempts to kill me, accidents in combat training, poison in my food, even just coming into my room at night and coming after me with an athame. No one would believe that a general would try to kill the prince of the country he was sworn to protect; I spent my entire childhood dodging assassination. There was one person who believed me though,'

'Who was that?'

Aidan smiled, 'My father… well, not my real father. He hadn't been the richest man, Kahn had even tried to stop the marriage between him and my mother, saying that royalty didn't go with poverty,' he clenched his fists, 'Our plan was to escape the city and go to the world outside. There's a warp gate in the centre of the palace, it's the only way in and out of the city, besides your spell of course. Anyway, Kahn caught us and before I could help my Dad fight the soldiers off, he pushed me into the warp gate and held the soldiers off long enough for me to be untraceable,' he looked up with tears in his eyes, 'I remember the very last thing he said to me, 'Live a full life for me,' when you're eight years old that doesn't really mean much, but those words have stayed with me all my life and they're the reason I've became what I am today,'

Paige kept silent after hearing this confession, 'I'm sorry.' She blurted out.

'For what?'

'Well, for giving you such a hard time earlier, and for… well…'

'Slapping me?' he grinned.

'Yeah, you didn't deserve it and-,'

'No, I did. You put me in my place, I shouldn't have talked to you like that,' he put an arm round her shoulders and pulled her closer, kissing her head, 'I love you,' she smiled and put her arm around his back.

'Uh… guys?' Pamela interrupted, 'Sorry to break up the love connection, but do you realise that you're about to walk into a wall?'

The couple wrenched themselves from each others eyes to look in front of them, seeing that a solid brick wall blocked their path, a royal glyph shining threateningly on them.

'I thought you said you knew they way,' Paige tried to confirm it.

'I do. This wasn't here before,' he felt around the wall with a frown, 'Piper, do you think you could phase this wall?'

'Uh… I dunno, normal stonewalls are no problem but if it's magically enforced…' she touched the wall.

'I don't think it's magical. Do you guys here that?' they all fell silent to listen.

Piper narrowed her eyes, 'It's like running water, except it's a lot of it maybe? A waterfall?'

The elemental grinned and nodded, 'That's the entrance to the palace,' he felt the wall again, 'Kahn's trying to stop us,'

'But how?' Paige joined in the touching of the wall, 'I though you said only the royal family can get in here,'

'Yeah, but others can still get to the entrances and exits, he's blocked it off, but he hasn't taken the time to infuse it with magic.' He breathed out a laugh, 'What does he take me for? I know these tunnels like the back of my hand! I spent most of my childhood hiding in them,'

'Yeah, well…' Piper placed her palm firmly on the stone, 'Stone won't stop us,' she breathed in and the wall began to distort, allowing everyone else to walk through the solid object. The molecular classed witch walked through last, phasing her own body so she could move into the next area.

'Wow, this is… Wow!' Pamela walked around, admiring the extravagance of the room. Many statues of a beautiful woman lined a pathway, which led to a large waterfall that roared loudly, echoing around the hall and making the group's ears ring slightly. A magnificent structure surrounded the crashing water, framing it perfectly and making it look as if a god created the waterfall! Little did the girls know, it had!

'Alright,' Piper led the way towards the waterfall, 'Where's the entrance?'

'Right here…' Aidan stood in front of the waterfall and brought his pendant out of his shirt again. Paige went up to him with fearful eyes,

'Wait a minute, you want us to go through that?'

'No,' he turned to her smiled, 'I want you to go up it!'

She gaped, 'Hold on!'

He didn't answer, instead he began to chant something that made the necklace glow, 'Patefacio porta illis quisnam sceptrum!' he chanted. The ground began to shake and a part of the ceiling fell. The Halliwells squealed in surprise and sunlight burst through the hole, meeting the waterfall and making a rainbow across the natural wonder. There was a bright flash, which caused everyone to cover their eyes. After the glare had vanished, the girls gasped in amazement when they saw that the water was now running upwards instead of falling downwards!

'Oh my God…' Piper breathed.

'Okay…' Paige didn't really know how to react, 'Um… I didn't know you speak Latin,' she added stupidly.

'It's just up here…' he said hoarsely as he we walked slowly towards the torrent of water. When he got close enough, his body began to glow and he turned into a small globe of white light, which travelled up the way and disappeared when reaching the top. The others followed him uneasily, not sure where this would lead.

* * *

Kahn shimmered into his quarters in the higher-class part of the city. He still nursed his wound as he walked over to the table in his bedroom, picking up a bottle of scotch and taking a swig of it, pouring some on the gash in his shoulder to ease the pain. A soldier burst through the door with two others behind him, they marched in line and stopped once they reached the centre of the room.

'Sir! The troops are waiting to move on the city as soon as you give the command!' he relayed the news.

The General clasped his hands together and put his feet up on the table as he sat down, 'Good. What of the Prince?'

The knight hesitated before answering, 'He's… evaded our grasp and made his way into the castle,'

Kahn stood up with wide eyes and breathing heavily, 'I cannot defeat both mother and son! Storm the castle! Eliminate him!'

He punched his chest in response, 'Yes sir!' he marched out of the room with the others. The general sighed and flopped back into his chair while pouring more alcohol on his wound.

* * *

Aidan and the Halliwells appeared in a cloud of white lights; Pamela stumbled slightly and blinked a few times as she shook off the motion sickness of moving in such a unique way.

'Whoa… Just wait until my lunch jumps back down my throat,' she tapped her chest slightly and swallowed.

'I'm so glad you share everything with us,' Piper grimaced at her niece.

'Okay, where are we now?' Paige looked around the room they were now in. it was pretty simple compared to the other amazing structures that they had seen to far. There was an empty window letting in the sun and wind, and an oak door with simple patterns on it.

'We're in the palace.' He answered simply, heading for the door and placing his palm on the handle while fishing in his shirt for his pendant once again and holding it out in the air so it glimmered in the sunlight.

'What are you doing?' Paige asked, she didn't get an answer.

'Fulsi, meus cruor,' he muttered under his breath, but his quiet words had a big effect as a brilliant blue light burst from the pendant and shone powerfully through the room. The light dyed down and became a soft glow as Aidan opened the door, the others followed him out of the door and began to walk down the hall, which was as grand as the rest of the city and far more fitting for a palace. The elemental walked briskly, weaving through the labyrinth of hallways before stopping at two massive glass doors that were filled with water.

Pamela nudged her youngest aunt, 'Looks like it's time to meet the parents!' she whispered excitedly, Paige just hit her on the arm.

The large doors groaned and creaked, as they swung open slowly. The girls walked in awe as they looked at the magnificent hall, sunlight streamed in from stain glass windows that were dotted around the top of the walls and a grand throne stood in the middle, beautifully carved and encrusted with diamonds. But there were signs that a battle had taken place in the chamber, scorch marks on the floor, small patches of ice were on the floor and an array of weapons were embedded in the wall.

'Just who are you?' a voice said. Everyone spun around to see who had spoke, they saw a woman with beautiful blue hair and she wore a powder blue dress that went just past her ankles with thin straps holding it up around her shoulders.

'Mother! I-,' Aidan ran towards her with everyone else.

'Subsisto!' she yelled and raised her hand. The three Halliwells stopped in their places, frozen, while Aidan continued to run.

'Our magic doesn't work on those we share blood with…' Aidan said with a pleading look while showing the woman the pendant that still gleamed with a blue light. Her face immediately softened and her arm lowered, a tear streamed down her face as she realised who stood before her,

'Aidan… My son…' she whispered.

'Yes, it's me…' he murmured back, before walking up to the blue haired maiden and hugging her, he pulled back and looked at the witches who were suspended in time, 'Mother, please release them. It is the Charmed Ones and their niece,'

'The Charmed Ones? I thought I felt a power that rivalled my own enter the city, but I assumed it was Kahn.'

Aidan clenched his fists at the sound of that name, 'I'll take care him, but unfreeze them,' he glanced at the three women.

Undine nodded and made a turning gesture with her hand, 'Permoveo,' the girls resumed running but stopped when they realised their surrounds had changed.

'Were we… frozen?' Paige looked around with a confused expression; her sister and niece were doing almost the same thing.

'Greetings,' Undine said, placing a hand on her heart, 'I apologise for mistaking you as intruders, but I have been extremely cautious ever since my confrontation with General Kahn,'

'Did he hurt you?' the queen's son asked.

'No. I was able to force him into retreat, but I fear that he has formed an army of his own. Although the royal guard are still loyal to me, the others I am unsure of,'

'Wait a minute… I'm still trying to get my head round this, what's the name of your plastic surgeon? Because you look young enough to be Aidan's younger sister!'

Piper and Paige's heads spun round and glared at her 'Pam!' they scolded her in unison.

'What?' she shrugged.

'Remember that talk we had about you putting your foot in your mouth?' Piper asked her hysterically.

Pamela frowned for a minute, then she grinned nervously, 'Oh! Is this one of those times?'

'Uh… Yeah!' Piper answered loudly, 'Sorry, my niece has no tact whatsoever,'

Undine smiled kindly, she was slightly amused, 'It is quite alright. When one is a Goddess, you are immune to the ravages to time,'

Paige looked at the woman in raw shock, 'You're… You're… A what?'

'I knew it.' Pamela announced, 'We were studying godly beings in my Magical Creatures class, you're the Divine Spirit of Water, Undine,'

Paige grinned stupidly and walked backwards to her niece, 'Why didn't you tell me this before?' she hissed.

'I just remembered, I'm sorry!' she whispered back, shrugging.

A soldier appeared in a pillar of water in the middle of the group, looking around for the queen. Everyone except from Undine took a fighting stance, judging from their experience with the knight of Atlantis. The queen raised her hand and the others dropped their stances.

'What news do you have for me?' she asked.

'It's Kahn, your Majesty! He's mobilised against the royal guard and is laying waste to the city!'

'No…' she whispered, running towards a blank wall and waving her hand at it, 'Seorsum,' the bricks of the wall began to move apart and reveal a balcony on the outside. The city spanned for miles as the castle was in the centre, smoke and screaming could be seen and heard in distance, Queen Undine looked on in horror before turning to the soldier.

'Give the order! Let Kahn feel the fury of the Royal Guard!' the soldier nodded furiously and splashed out.

* * *

General Kahn looked around the destruction he was causing and a disgusting smirk spread across his face. Women running from the growing inferno's with their children as his soldiers laid waste to the beautiful buildings with magical fire.

'Sir! We saw one of the Royal Guard escape! He may have alerted the Queen!' a soldier came up to him with fear in his voice.

'Oh, I know for a fact that he has alerted the Queen. It won't be long before the Prince knows the truth and comes after me…' he smirked.

A small child who was running through the plaza in a desperate attempt to find her mother, she was holding a teddy bear while running through the debris from all of the fallen houses. She tripped on a large fragment of stone and fell to the ground, her bear skidding across the ground as she began to wail.

'Excuse me…' the General said, drawing his sword as he advanced on the child.

The little girl saw the man looming above her and cried even harder, 'Leave me alone!' she sobbed.

Kahn was wordless as he prepared to drive his sword into the little girl's back, but she suddenly disappeared in a surge of water and Kahn's blade met with the ground. He put his sword back in its sheath and growled,

'Undine…'

* * *

Aidan was grabbing various weapon that were suspended from the wall in the throne room, murder flashed in his eyes every time he glanced at a sword. Paige was following him around frantically and trying to make him calm down while Pamela and Piper sat with the little girl they had saved from Kahn's sword. Her attempts failed miserably as he continued to collect weapons.

'Stop!' she stood in front of him with a face like thunder, 'What do you think this is gonna accomplish?'

'I'll be avenging my stepfather's death…' he said, walking around her to get another sword. Paige sighed; she wouldn't get through to her boyfriend when he was like this, so that left one option,

'I'm coming with you,' she announced. He stopped dead in his tracks.

'What? Paige, I don't want you to get hurt because of me,'

'Look out there!' she gestured toward the grim skyline that could be seen from the balcony, 'If you're going out there, I could be useful. I can heal people and with my power amplified here, my telekinesis is probably as strong as Pam's power boost! Aidan, you can't put me before hundreds of people, you maybe able to carry that on your conscience but I can't!'

Aidan sighed but let a small smile onto his face, they were as stubborn as each other, 'Okay, fine. But stay close to me and don't go wondering about the city,'

Paige rolled her eyes, 'I'm not that stupid!' they both headed for the door.

'My son! Wait!' Undine ran up to them carrying a large metal box that looked very heavy, but Paige just assumed that lifting heavy objects was another perk of being of Goddess. She opened the box and revealed its contents; Paige gave it a strange look while Aidan's jaw dropped.

'Is it a pitchfork?' Paige asked with her nose wrinkled.

Aidan rolled his eyes, 'No. It's…'

'The Trident Of Neptune,' Undine finished, the trident was definitely the most gorgeous object that Paige had seen since coming here. The Atlantian symbol lay at the base where the three prongs met and the handle was carved in a way as if the very seas had been spun around it. The prongs gleamed with majestic beauty and the base had one sharp prong at the bottom for taking out enemies that came at you from behind.

'I thought only the heir of Poseidon could wield this,' Aidan gave his mother a confused look.

Undine nodded slowly, 'That is true. You truly are the Child of the Gods, my Prince,'

Aidan sent a shaky hand towards the box and slowly picked up the trident while dropping all the other weapons that he had picked from wall. He held it up to the light and stared at the magnificent weapon, before swinging it around in a professional manner.

'It's like this was made for me!' Aidan exclaimed.

'It was. Use it well, Aidan, heir of Poseidon, and my beloved son,' she whispered, before watching her son and the woman he love run out of the room.

* * *

The little girl sat on the floor staring at her shoes, Pamela joined her so that she could talk to her more easily. She was a little uneasy, as the only experience Pamela had had with children was with her cousins who were boys! But she had been a little girl at one point, how hard could it be?

'That's a very pretty dress,' Pamela spoke softly, not wanting to alarm the girl.

'My mommy made it for me…' was her reply, she brushed some of the dirt off the pink fabric of the dress. The teen decided to do something drastic. She scooped up the girl and sat her on the extravagant throne, kneeling down to her eye level once she was sitting comfortably.

'You know, since you're wearing pink dress and you're sitting on a throne, I think I'm gonna call you Princess Pinky!' Pamela grinned.

The little girl smiled at her new nickname and began to warm up to the young Halliwell, while all the time Pamela was saying in her head,

'Who says parenting's a hard job?'

* * *

Paige stood back up from kneeling down to heal someone, Undine had told her that she was to direct everyone to the palace for safety. She had been amazed at how amazing Aidan was with the trident, he was easily taking out all the enemies in a mere matter of seconds. It was if him and the trident had been born for each other!

He blocked the spear that was coming at him by getting the head stuck between the prongs, he then pulled the trident up, making the soldier lose his balance and then he drove the trident into the knight's back, killing him.

'He's just up here, I can sense the pleasure he's getting from watching this massacre…' Aidan growled as he ran down the street with Paige closely behind. Another wave of soldiers came at them, but the youngest Charmed One waved her arm and an epic telekinetic blast came forth, damaging some of the buildings and sending all of their attackers flying.

'I love having amplified powers…' she said to herself before catching up to Aidan. She skidded to a stop when she saw that Kahn and Aidan were facing each other, Kahn had his sword out while Aidan spun the trident above his head threateningly. The evil General merely smirked,

'So, your mother finally handed over the Trident Of Neptune to you! This will make my victory and taking your powers so much sweeter!' he grinned before charging at the Prince of Atlantis.

* * *

Piper and Pamela sat tending to Princess Pinky, it was the only thing they could to take their minds off the fact that they felt so helpless. Undine sat been quiet for the last few minutes, her eyes were closed and she was in deep concentration so the Halliwells took no notice of her until her eyes sprung open.

'What is it?' Piper stood up from the crouching position she was in.

'Aidan…' she closed her eyes and tear trickled down her cheek, 'He needs me,' and with those words, she disappeared in a bright blue flash and left the others speechless and clueless as to where she had gone.

* * *

All Aidan could do was block and parry helplessly as Kahn kept up his assault with demonic speed. Neither of them were winning but it seemed that the General was now getting the upper hand as Aidan hadn't managed to get a hit in for a while. Paige stood at the edge of the fight, she didn't want to make her presence known in case she distracted her love or gave Kahn the upper hand somehow.

'I'm the one who taught you how to wield a weapon!' he roared, 'The student shall never surpass the teacher!'

Aidan gritted his teeth, at a loss what to do next. Suddenly, the trident began to glow and small whisps of light flew into it, making it even more powerful than before! At first he was confused how it had happened but then after sensing something, he realised that his mother had given up her life to help him defeat Kahn. Aidan's eyes began to water at the thought of his mother's sacrifice.

'Mom…' he turned to Kahn with tearstained eyes, 'DIE!' he ran at the General with a burst of supernatural speed and impaled him on the three prongs of the trident. Kahn coughed, blood splattering from his mouth as he done so, light began to seep from his mouth, nose and eyes as he began to die.

Paige realised that this would end with a big blast that would kill Aidan! She ran out and tried to warn him but it was too late, Kahn exploded and last thing Paige remembered was a flash.

* * *

'Paige, Paige, wake up,' Aidan's voice said to her.

Paige opened her eyes but closed them again due to the brightness to the place she was in. the only thing she could see was white, but Aidan's voice had come form somewhere and she was determined to find hi8m, especially after remembering what had happened before she black out, or whited put in this case.

'Aidan?' she called, walking around the endless whiteness for a few seconds before Aidan appeared in front of her, 'Aidan, what's going on? Are we…' she was afraid to finish her sentence.

'No, we're not dead, we're just on a neutral plane. I brought us here when we were knocked unconscious,'

'Why?' she looked to him with wide eyes.

He hesitated, 'To say goodbye,'

Something inside of the Charmed One cracked as she heard those words. Why was he doing this? What was going on? None of this made sense to her, she hoped it was a horrible nightmare and she closed her eyes. He hadn't even explained himself and already she was having a panic attack.

'What do you mean? Goodbye? Aidan, you're scaring me,'

He put his hands on her arms, 'Paige, the city was been practically destroyed by Kahn, the citizens are in turmoil and in pain, and my mother used her life force as a Goddess to help me kill Kahn… I need to stay here and sort things out. It's my dut, it's my heritage,'

Paige's eyes were filled to the brim with tears, she couldn't believe this, 'But why does it have to be you? Why… Why can't you come home with me? Ple… Please… Please, don't leave me all alone Aidan, I can't survive without you…' she whispered and clung on to his shirt.

He pulled her into a hug, 'Paige, I would give up all the magic in the world to make you happy… I love you more than anything in my entire life, it's because of you that I am able to carry this burden,'

'But… But… These people, they don't need you like I do! Please! Don't go!' she screamed and pounded on his chest, while clinging tightly to him.

He continued to hold her, 'I can't put you before hundreds, even thousands of people, you said it yourself. These people need me right now, a lot more than you do. You have your sisters, Pamela, your nephews…'

'It's not the same…' she murmured, looking up in the process. This was beginning to sink in, 'Will I ever see you again?'

Aidan looked at his feet and fell silent, 'Probably not…' tears now streamed from Paige's eyes silently.

He cupped her face gently and kissed her one last time. Savouring it by putting his hand on the back of her head intensifying the kiss, which was deeply returned by Paige who never wanted to let go of him. He finally stopped and backed away,

'Goodbye Paige… I'll always love you… Live your life to the fullest...' he whispered, before vanishing into the white and leaving Paige's life forever.

* * *

Pamela walked into the kitchen while reading up on a book that she had to study for her Litriture class. She was doing her best to understand it by herself as Aidan had usually been the one to help her with her Litriture homework, but now she would probably never see him again… None of them would.

Piper was stirring up a feast as she kept four pots on the go at the same time. Her niece looked up from her book to see what was happening and why this room was probably the best smelling in the house.

'Um… Emma isn't back yet, and we never eat that much, who's this all for?'

'Oh, it's for Paige, she hasn't really been taking care to her self lately so I'm just helping out in anyway I can,'

'How is she?' Pamela asked, knowing that her aunt hadn't come out of bedroom of her apartment in two days.

'She's as well as can be expected…' Piper responded.

'In other words, she's a wreck,' the oldest Halliwell nodded sadly at her niece;s comment.

'Could you put that pile of Paige's clothes in the washer please? I need to go check on the boys,' Pamela nodded in response and put her book down while Piper ran upstairs. The teen walked into the alcove and began to throw the clothes into the washer, she was surprised when she heard a clang after throwing in a pair of jeans. She frowned as as she pulled the jeans back out to see what had made the noise. There was a plastic object sticking out of the pocket and it must have hit off the metal in the washer. Pamela sighed and pulled out the object and almost dropped it when she realised what it was, it was a pregnancy test! She quickly had a look at it and put her hand over her mouth when she read it.

In big bold letters in the small screen, it read…

**POSITIVE**

* * *

What a way to end the P & P Finale! Eh? Anyway, I'm sorry my responses where so short! But I'm very tired and I wanted to finish this!


	40. How The Other Side Kills Part 2

**I would like to thanks everyone who has reviewed since November, you guys gave me the courage to continue my first fan fic and for that, I'm eternally grateful!**

S.halliwell24 – Thanks! And you'll need to wait and see about Aidan, I want to really tight lipped about the sequel!

Pyrena – You'll faint? Cool! Lol, I'm glad you liked it! And with everyone else, you'll to wait and see about Aidan!

Wyatt halliwell – If you had read the chapter properly, you would have seen that Piper used her intangibility, and I can think of at least 3 times where she's used her invisibility! Maybe a re read is in order?

Prince Halliwell – I don't think Piper will have any more kids, and Aidan's a mystery to you all for now! And I will be putting a character list at the start of the sequel, don't worry! I tried to update quicker, I really want to start my next fic now! And Aidan's full of surprises, isn't he? I'm glad you liked it!

Unique-deflection – I'm glad you liked it! And she is pregnant!

Ravenix – Hi! I'm glad you've been enjoying my story! It made you cry? I'm sorry! But it's good to know I'm pulling peoples heartstrings lol! And all I can say is that Paige will find happiness, I'm not saying with who, but she will find happiness! And the posting date for the sequel is at the bottom! I'm glad you liked it! I hope stick with me for the sequel!

Phoebe turner – You read then all in one day? How long did that take you? I'm just curious, I'm glad you liked it! I hope stick with me for the sequel!

Princess Pinky – Thanks, some people have really hard usernames to fit in, but not you! And I though really hard about Aidan's origins, I did research and everything! And coming from a Paige and Glen fan, I take that as a big compliment! And about Paige freezing, who said she's carrying Aidan's children? There's another person she's slept with recently! Hehe… lol, I had to have Paige slap him! It was their last chapter together so I had to fit in everything! 

Andy20 – Thanks! I like to think it was really final!

**How The Other Side Kills Part 2**

'Let me out! Let me out now!' Phoebe screamed as smashed her feet off the bars for hundredth time, but all that it did was make an echoing clang bounce off the walls of the room. Riley sat with hands over his ears, trying to block out the sounds of a mother scorned, he finally gave up and crawled over the bars that joined his and Lexa prison.

'Is your friend always so crazy?' he asked her.

'No!' the molecular sounded offended, 'You would be the same of you were a mother who had her son kidnapped! But I don't expect you to understand, since the last time you felt something was when you had a cattle prod shoved in your chest,'

Shalimar reached her arms through the bars and hugged her friend who had now given up on kicking for a minute just to cry.

'Sweetie, we'll get him back! I promise!' Shalimar told the trembling witch.

Phoebe pulled back and wiped her eyes, 'I know… But I need to get out of here!' she shouted. The psionic stood up and fired blast after blast at the cage but an orange field blocked her mental attacks and they were absorbed harmlessly.

'Pheebs! You need to clam down! We have a plan!' Lexa finally calmed her friend down.

'I'm sorry you guys… But if he harms a hair on Connor's head…'

'We won't let him.' Riley jumped in, surprising everyone, 'C'mon, we need to do this,'

'Okay, what's the plan?' Phoebe placed her hands on her hips.

* * *

'Who the hell are you?' Cassy walked strongly towards the intruder leaning casually against the wall. Emma nodded to the men behind her and smiled,

'Why don't you ask them?'

The telekinetic folded her arms, 'Why don't you tell me before I throw you on your ass with a thought?'

Emma sighed and held up her right arm, showing a comlink on her finger, 'I'm Mutant X,'

'You're lying.' Jesse growled, 'We put Emma's comlink next to her memorial plack on the mountain. That can't be hers,'

'C'mon Jess, after everything Phoebe's taught you about magic and me coming back from the dead is unbelievable? And a simple spell got me my comlink back, do you realise how rusted this ring was?'

'If you are Emma, why didn't you come back to us?' Brennan asked her with a frown.

'There's a reason for everything,' she said simply, 'I didn't know why I died for a while, but then I saw that it was so you guys could meet Lexa and have your destinies changed, the same thing happened when Shal left and Phoebe came,'

'I'm still not convinced,' Jesse folded his arms defiantly.

Emma sighed, 'Alright…' she walked slowly towards him, put her hands on the sides of his head and fired a psionic blast at his forehead.

'You won't believe my words, but believe my spirit,' she said, 'You know it's me Jess, you recognise my presence, don't do?' She came out of his mind and let go of his head.

He blinked a few times, 'Oh my God… Emma?'

The psionic laughed and tapped him on the cheek, 'Took you long enough!'

The stunned molecular turned to his friends, 'It's true, it really is her!'

'Wait a minute, why did you come back to us now if you've been staying away all this time?'

'Because I've never sensed so much grief from all of you at the same time! And I can see why!' she gestured at sparking ruins around her, 'How did this happen?'

* * *

'Okay,' Lexa stared at Phoebe, 'You ready?' Phoebe nodded to her friend and took a deep breath, 'Remember, you need to do this really quickly,'

'I know how to fire a psionic blast, y'know!' she snapped and took another breath; suddenly she closed her eyes and fell to the ground with a loud thud!

'Help! Somebody help!' Shalimar shouted and hit her fists off the bars to try and attract the attention of the guard that was waiting outside the door and ready to stop them if they tried to escape. the door opened and the Link sighed as he appeared.

'Please! She's fainted or something!' Lexa pleaded uncharacteristically.

'The only reason I'm doing is because she's the only one Gabriel wants alive!' the man grunted before waving his hand over the lock and going into the after the door swung open. He bent over Phoebe to see what was on, but her eyes suddenly flashed open and she fired a powerful psionic blast at the Link, who was knocked out instantly.

'Ew… Great, I get the lug on top of me!' Phoebe groaned as she pushed the man off of her and stood up.

'Great! Now get us out!' Lexa urged.

'I'm sorry, you guys…' Phoebe began as she searched the Link and found a key, 'But I need to get to Connor and you guys will just slow me down,' she marched out of the cell and headed for the door.

'Phoebe! Wait! What about us?' Shalimar asked.

'I'll come back for you after I get rid of Ashlocke.' She replied simply as she opened the door and walked out into the corridor, slamming the iron obstruction as she left.

Riley growled and turned to Lexa, 'I'm starting to think that you should have been the one to faint,'

* * *

Jesse cautiously moved his hand towards the main computer of Sanctuary. It was like the brain of the place, so if they didn't get it back up and running, they wouldn't be able to open the hangar door and try to find Phoebe. It had been sheer luck that they had managed to get back just as the doors were closing, Brennan had done some skilful piloting to make sure that they weren't sliced in half as they flew through the thin slit of space between the hangar doors, they had literally been seconds too late to save Phoebe and Shalimar.

The molecular spat out a curse word when the mainframe sparked and sizzled at his touch, 'Dammit!'

'How's it going in here?' Emma walked into the lab through the smashed lab door.

'Not good. If we can't get the computer back up then we're stuck in here. How's everyone else doing?'

'Hmm… Well, Brennan's going crazy, he's used up all his juice trying to blast the hangar door off, and Cassy is trying to open it with her powers, but she gets a migraine every time she tries,'

'How did you get in?'

'Same way you guys did, a couple of seconds later and I would be stuck outside,'

'What about Andy? Can't he orb out?'

'He's tried that; the lock down is both magical and technical. Adam really though of everything when he built this place.'

'Yeah, I'm surprised he doesn't know about a back door.'

'He does, but he needs the main computer,' Emma responded. They sat in an awkward silence while Jesse lay on the floor and fiddled with the electronics inside the wall, 'You don't need to feel guilty for loving her.' Emma suddenly blurted out.

Jesse slid out from the wall, 'What?'

'Lexa,' she said simply.

He sighed and slid back into the wall, 'Oh…'

'Jess, what you and me would have had… It's in a different lifetime. Literally. Besides, I have a completely new life in San Francisco, and your life is… well…'

'In a rock?' he offered.

She laughed, 'Hey, going in peoples heads is my job,'

Emma heard him laugh as he wheeled out from the wall again and sat up, 'Do you know what the worst part about your death was?'

'Um… I died?' she smirked.

He smiled, 'Yes, but… I had no one to talk to about it, about my feelings,'

'Since when are Shal and Bren no one?'

'That's not what I mean. Why do you think there are always four people in Mutant X? It's so one of us can have another person to talk to about everything! You were my talking buddy, Brennan and Shal were talking buddies,'

'I did watch you guys for a while before I was reborn.' She looked at the wall wistfully, 'I didn't have my powers so I had no idea that you felt like this, it was really frustrating!' she grinned.

He grinned as well, then went back to a kind expression, 'I hope find happiness, Emma,'

The psionic smiled compassionately, 'You too, Jess. And no matter how much she tries to push you away, don't let her, she'll open up eventually.'

'Thanks…' he slid back into the hole in the wall.

'Hey, get out of that computer Jesse, we've got a plan,' Andy announced as he ran in.

'Please say we can do it quickly,' Emma put her hand on her forehead.

'Well, if you think you can pull it off,' he smirked at Emma's confused frown.

* * *

'I don't need the help of a mind meddler.' Cassy protested with a frown.

'Excuse me? You haven't had much luck by yourself, and I personally am not going my friends rot because of your pride!' Emma spat.

The two psionic witches stood staring each other down. Since Cassy's telekinesis was the only power that was capable of opening the doors, the plan was for Emma to link with her mind and add to her power, which might be enough to pull apart the massive doors. Cassy had been resistant ever since the plan had been forged,

'Emma, just drop it.' Adam said quietly.

'No Adam, go ahead!' Cassy snarled sarcastically, 'Tell them why I will never let any being into my head ever again!' she stomped off towards the Helix, 'If this thing…' she hit the hull of the plane, 'Was a real jet, we could just fire a missile and blow those damn doors off!'

'What's her problem?' Brennan asked with gritted teeth, 'She's wasting time!'

'When she lived here…' Adam began, 'She was captured while on a mission by Levak Ivanov,'

'Oh my God…' Emma sighed, 'No wonder she doesn't want me in her head,'

'What is it?' Andy asked obliviously.

'Ivanov is a psionic mutant that we dealt with a couple of weeks before Emma's death, he has the ability to warp his victims sense of reality to get any information that he wants,'

'Shal was traumatized after that…' Jesse added.

'Yeah… Cassy survived his onslaught for three days,'

The Mutant X team looked at Adam in horror at what Adam had just said, Shalimar had went crazy after just a few hours of being victim to Ivanov's power. All of them were shocked at the fact that Cassy was still alive after such pain.

'Well, I'm sorry but she's going to have to get over it.' Emma walked off.

Jesse sighed and turned to the other guys, 'Well, I certainly haven't missed that coldness,'

* * *

Phoebe turned another corner of the seemingly endless building, nothing but white walls. She had had no confrontations since she had escaped from the cell, she knew that the guard wouldn't be waking up for at least six hours after the blast she had sent him. The only thing that Phoebe was using to guide her the fear that she could sense from her child. The thought of anyone hurting Connor made her blood boil and made her move even faster.

'Don't worry sweetie, I'm coming…' She whispered to herself.

As she turned a corner, Phoebe noticed two Links coming down the corridor. She was able to go back and keep her back to wall so they wouldn't notice her, but it was only a matter of time. Quickly thinking, she found Lexa through her empathy and channelled her friends powers, Phoebe then jumped out in front of the two mutants and released a Lexa like dazzle, then shooting them with two high powered lasers.

A calmer person might have suggested that Phoebe just turn invisible with the use of Lexa's powers, but nothing was going to stop her violent vendetta.

Nothing.

* * *

'Okay, this is ridiculous. We need to get outta here,' Lexa had went back to sitting, as her injured ankle had felt strained with all the pacing and standing.

Riley thought for a moment before standing up, 'Lemme try something,' he walked over to the bars and grasped them tightly, before pulling on them violently and ripping them off and letting him out!

'You've got to be kidding me!' Shalimar gave him a crazed look, 'You could have done that all along!'

'Well, I thought that the shield would repel me if I used my powers, but it seems to be vulnerable to ferals,' he flashed his eyes a dark blue when he looked at Shalimar; she did the same with her eyes.

'Okay guys, enough with a primal instinct,' Lexa stood up with a huge effort, 'Riley, get us outta here,'

'Of course,' he casually ripped the bars off Lexa's cage and then repeated the process with Shalimar's prison. The feline feral walked into her friend's cage and helped her out by putting her arm around her back and putting Lexa's arm around her shoulders.

'Okay, we won't be able to move like this. I'll carry you,' Riley announced.

Lexa's jaw dropped and Shal stifled a laugh, 'No. Way.' She stated.

'Look, Lex, he's an Ursine feral, he could effortlessly carry you over his shoulder and still keep up with me,'

'No!' she protested again and looked at Shal, 'And how did you know he was an Ursine feral with just a flash of his eyes?'

'Feral intuition, right?' Riley asked, his eyes went a feral dark blue again, Shalimar nodded.

'C'mon, let's get out of this room, maybe Andy will be able to sense us that way, because I'm too weak to flash right now,' Lexa said.

'Well…' Riley suddenly scooped her up with one arm and slung her shoulder, 'Let's sniff out your psychic friend while we're at it,' Shalimar raised her eyebrows in agreement and sniggered as they left the room, listening to Lexa shout profanities about the way she was travelling.

* * *

Cassy stood at the hangar doors once more, straining to open them with her powers, but once again her head felt it was about to explode and she had to stop. Brennan's desperation had gone far enough for him to get out a blowtorch and try to cut a hole in the steel obstruction, but it was too thick.

Emma came up to Cassy and laid a hand on her shoulder, 'Cassy, you and me are our only hopes of getting out of here, I need to link with you,'

The telekinetic turned to her, 'Maybe when we've ran out of food and turned to cannibalism, but not right now,' she turned back to the door and shrugged Emma's hand off her shoulder.

The telempath sighed, 'Okay… How about this? If I link with you, we'll be completely equal. You'll be able to roam about my mind just as easily I can yours,'

Cassy looked as if she was considering it for a moment, but turned back to the object of her attention, Emma lowered her head in defeat until she spoke.

'Work your stuff. But if I feel you probing at my mind, I'll break the link then break your neck…' she growled.

Emma nodded and raised her comring to her lips, 'Guys! Cassy's gonna link with me!'

'That's good,' Adam's voice said, 'Because we're getting no where with the computer,' he huffed as the mainframe sparked and Jesse cursed.

* * *

'Okay,' Brennan called from the Helix with the rest of the guys; 'It's up to you girls now,'

Emma looked a her mental partner, still not sure if Cassy was completely willing, but this had to be done, 'You ready?' all she got was a grunt and a nod, 'Okay, I soon as you sense me, just do what you've been doing, except draw on the two consciousness in your mind for power,'

Cassy nodded and again and set a look of determination on her face, 'I guess two heads really are better than one,' she smirked. The blonde haired witch closed her eyes slowly, then snapped them open widely and stared at the massive doors in front of her. Pulling on her own and Emma' mind for power, she began to pull them apart. The familiar headache came back again, but she concentrated and she heard the metal begin to groan as it was pushed into its slots in the mountain, Cassy felt her head was about to burst, and so did Emma, the two gritted their teeth and continued to use their joint power. Sunlight began to pour into the hangar as the doors opened, which was a welcome to the others, as they hadn't seen it for hours.

'Okay you two! That's enough!' Adam's voice echoed in their heads, but the two of them kept going until the bay was completely exposed.

'Wow…' Jesse breathed and tapped the touch screen panel in the Helix, 'Hangar doors are fully open! And the hologram of the mountain over the doors is still intact!'

'Good…' Emma injected as she and Cassy walked up the ramp, 'Let's go save everyone!' she said with a smile.

'Well, my spirits have been boosted, although we still don't know where they all are,'

'Phoebe's a telempath, just like me, I can sense her, let's go!' Emma rubbed her hands together as they took off.

* * *

Phoebe dealt with the last few guards that were in front of the room where she had sensed her son. Gabriel Ashlocke was probably behind this door and she was determined to face him, and she was definitely ready for him. She decided to make a surprising entrance, her eyes went completely black and a dark beam of psychic energy blasted the door off its hinges and Phoebe walked in strongly.

'Get away from him!' she yelled.

Gabriel Ashlocke stood over her screaming son, who had his electric shield up and was protecting himself from the super mutant, who glared at the child on the cold metal table.

'Phoebe…' he said in a raspy voice, 'I'm glad you could make it,' he began to walk over to her, but she fired the same blast she had used to destroy the door and he went flying into the wall. Phoebe rushed over to Connor who lowered his shield immediately and began to clam down, knowing he was in his mothers arm.

'It's okay baby, I got you… Your safe…' she whispered as she held him tightly.

Gabriel recovered quickly and stood up, with a thunderous face, 'He's mine! And so are you!' he screamed.

Phoebe gulped in fear, but kept a steely look on her face, 'Go to hell! It's where you belong!' she shouted back.

'If I can't have you both…' he growled and raised his hands, 'No one will!' A large energy blast began to charge up in his hands, Connor raised his shield to protect his mother and himself. Although she knew it wouldn't work without Lexa, Jesse and Brennan, Phoebe decided to try and vanquished spell in an attempt to weaken him.

'Adam, Nicole, Vince, Emma,

Shalimar, Riley, Cassandra and Chase,

Mutant X Members stand strong beside us,

Vanquish this evil from time and space!'

Before he could fire the massive energy blast in his hand, he doubled over in pain and opened his shirt to reveal that his chest was ripping apart. Riley and Shalimar burst in the door at that moment and saw what was happening. Lexa released a light beam at the ailing mutant but he hadn't been weakened enough and gathered the strength to put up his hand and raise a shield to deflect the blast.

'This isn't over!' he yelled, before fading out.

Connor's shield went back down as he cooed in his mother's arms, knowing that he was safe and loved. Phoebe gave her friends a nervous smile, she knew that they would be angry with her for leaving them in the cells and would want an explanation. Before she could open her mouth, a welcome voice came into their comlinks.

'Phoebe! Shal! Lexa! Can you guys hear me?' Brennan's frantic voice echoed in their minds.

Phoebe smiled and held Connor close to her chest, 'Yeah Honey, we can hear you,'

'Thank God… I'm bringing her down,'

* * *

Andy waved a hand over Lexa's ankle and the long injured piece of her body was finally healed. She looked at it with a smiled and jumped off the metal table with ease.

'Thanks Andy, that ankle's been a bitch!'

Andy laughed, 'No problem,'

Phoebe ran to Brennan who been the last to come in and he put his arms around his family, finally breathing easily now that he knew they were safe.

'I was so scared…' Phoebe whispered to him as they looked at Connor while Brennan slipped an arm around her back and used the other to use his hand to entertain Connor, who was giggling at the shapes that his father was making.

'I know… But I said I wouldn't let anyone hurt you, and I didn't,' he kissed her, which she returned hungrily.

'Okay, break it up, you've got an infant in your arms!' Jesse joked; he received an amused glare from Phoebe who had laid her head on Brennan's chest.

'Um… Where's Adam and that telekinetic you were talking about?' Shalimar asked.

'They stayed in the Helix, they're ready to take off as soon as we defeat Ashlocke,' Jesse answered.

'Which I suggest you do right now since he's weakened by Phoebe saying the spell,' Emma added.

Phoebe stood silent and her eyes glazed over, Brennan noticed her stance and nudged her slightly to see what was wrong, but he could tell from the look on her face.

'Can you sense him?'

'Yeah. He's on the roof, waiting for us,' she bit her lip.

'Alright!' Lexa said loudly, making everyone jump, 'Everyone except me, Jess, Pheebs and Brennan are going back to the Helix! It's only us that can say the spell anyway,' Everyone else nodded and began to walk out of the door; Phoebe stopped Emma from leaving and handed Connor gently to her.

'Please make sure he's safe,' she pleaded, Emma nodded solemnly and left there Mutant X team to sit in silence with each other. They stood in a square awkwardly until Phoebe said something totally inappropriate,

'So, who wants to come baby clothes shopping with me tomorrow?'

'I will, I won't be up for much so that will be perfect,' Lexa said.

'Isn't there a basketball game on tomorrow?' Brennan tapped Jesse.

'Yeah! I think there is! I'll give you a game after it, when was the last time we played?' the molecular answered.

The four of them just burst out laughing after that had to dry their eyes after laughing at the strangeness of their situation, Phoebe was the first to speak.

'Who are we kidding? I'm going to sleep all day tomorrow! Although Connor will probably have other plans,'

'Yeah, the bedrooms at Sanctuary are still intact, so we can definitely spend the day in bed,' Brennan raised his eyebrows suggestively.

Phoebe looked at him, 'Yeah, we'll spend all day in bed, since I'll be too tired to do anything!' she burst his bubble.

'I'm going to spend the entire day in the shower, I'm going to look like a prune!' Lexa joined in.

'Well, I think I'll just play video games, they're not too strenuous,' Jesse added.

'Aw… Hun,' Lexa clasped her hands and put them on Jesse's shoulder, 'You do that everyday anyway!'

They kept talking like this for a while, laughing with each other and just enjoying each other's company, which they hadn't done in a very long time, since work or magic always seemed to get involved.

Phoebe was the one to regain their sanity, 'C'mon, let's do this.'

The four of them nodded to each other and walk out into the corridor, ready to fight.

* * *

Gabriel stood with his hands in his pockets on the high roof; he had been waiting for a while now and was beginning to get bored. Finally, the stairway door swung open and Brennan Phoebe walked onto the roof, Phoebe long hair moving in the wind. They stared each other down for a moment before the super mutant spoke,

'I was expecting more visitors,' he shouted over the harsh wind.

'You no what they say "There's no wrath like parents scorned" we don't need anyone else to take care of you!' Phoebe spat.

Gabriel played with an energy blast in his hand, 'That's you first and last miscalculation!' he fired the blast but Brennan used his third power and created an electrical barrier. Gabriel just grinned and prepared to fire again until something hit him on his back and he went flying into the air and landed on the ground. Lexa and Jesse came out from the opposite direction, Lexa had her hand glowing, ready to fire and again and Jesse had a thermal blast sizzling in his hand.

'There's another saying "There's no wrath like godparents scorned",' Lexa said triumphantly.

'How did you…' Gabriel coughed as he got up.

'Moving at the speed of light makes getting around a lot easier!'

'NOW!' Phoebe screamed, and the four of them began to chant the vanquishing spell, the spell that would finish everything and finally bring down the super mutant once and for all, and no on e would bring him back from his.

'Adam, Nicole, Vince, Emma,

Shalimar, Riley, Cassandra and Chase,

Mutant X Members stand strong beside us,

Vanquish this evil from time and space!'

All of them repeated the last two lines over and over again, but the spell still didn't work and Ashlocke was on the ground screaming for mercy, but he was still very much alive.

* * *

Everyone paced the Helix nervously except from Emma, who sat with baby Connor in her arms, trying to keep him calm. He suddenly went completely silent, much to the surprise of everyone and they all gather to see what had happened. The child suddenly began to glow and spark with electricity, he cooed as the light he was creating got brighter and small bolts of lightning shot from his tiny body.

'Connor…' Emma whispered as she looked out the window and saw a dark storm cloud gathering at amazing speed over the Strand building.

* * *

'Mutant X Members stand strong beside us,

Vanquish this evil from time and space!

Mutant X Members stand strong beside us,

Vanquish this evil from time and space!

Mutant X Members stand strong beside us,

Vanquish this evil from time and space!'

They had been chanting for few minutes now and their throats were beginning to get sore. Lexa's hair blew around her face as the a storm gathered over the building, she saw Phoebe who was still chanting,

'It's not working!' Lexa screamed.

'Keep going!' Phoebe yelled back.

Suddenly a humongous burst of lightning shot from the sky and hit Ashlocke, he screamed and writhed in agony as more of the lightning forked across the sky and hit him repeatedly. Mutant X had stopped chanting and just stared as the psycho mutant disintegrated and turned into a pile of dust was quickly blown away by the wind.

The storm went as quickly as it had came and the sky turned back to the peaceful view as the four witches looked at the scorch mark that had been Gabriel Ashlocke.

'Wow…'

* * *

_The attic door burst open as Piper hurried to the Book, she was helping an injured Pamela, who was being supported by Piper and limping badly._

'_Paige! Move it!' Piper screamed at the top of lungs, her sister and husband immediately appeared in a flash of orbs after hearing Pipers tone. Paige took one look at Pamela and knew what was going on, her big sister could only nod._

_Piper ordered, 'Paige, get the potions!' Paige nodded and ran across the room, only to be stopped by him flaming in front of her._

'_I was expecting a bit more of a fight!' he smirked._

'_And you're going to get one!' Piper growled, putting up her hands and blowing him up, scattering his body into swirling particles, allowing Paige to get the potions that where lying on the table._

'_Pam, c'mon honey, we need you, it's time,' Piper rambled into her niece's ear, shaking her back into consciousness. He reformed and advanced on Piper._

'_That was a BIG mistake!' he growled, conjuring a fireball._

'_Pam…' Piper squeaked worryingly. Her niece reacted just in time and sent a frost cloud at the enemy, sending him back and freezing him slightly. But it didn't do much good; he shook off the ice and came at them again, only to be stopped by Paige throwing potions at his back. He turned round and snarled, conjuring another fireball and throwing it at Paige…_

Phoebe shot up in her bed, sweating and clutching her chest; she could hear the baby crying in the next room. The bed moved on the other side and Brennan got up.

'Don't worry, I'll get him,' he said reassuringly as he opened the door. Phoebe merely nodded as she went over her dream, it had been so real! Brennan coming back with Connor in his arms interrupted her thoughts. Connor had stopped crying as soon as Brennan had come in.

'I think he just wants some attention,' Brennan smiled.

'Hmm… at least he looks in the right places for it,' Phoebe smirked as she turned on the bedside lamp.

'Hey, that was before I met you,' Brennan smirked back, handing the baby to it's mother. Phoebe smiled at the gurgling little bundle in her arms. _Conner Halliwell Mulwray _she thought of her child's name in her head. He had been named Conner after Brennan's father his other names had come from his Mom and Dad. Phoebe's thoughts wondered back to her dream as she watched a sleeping Connor find comfort in her arms. She was convinced it was a premonition, and the only way to prevent it from happening, was to return home.

* * *

Okay, we all knew it had to end sometime! (sniffs) But 'United As Three' should be up tomorrow or Monday hopefully!

**United As Three**: Paige faces the harshreality of being a single mother, but has doubts about who the father is. Pamela struggles to keep her aunt's secret, especially when her Paige doesn't even know that Pamela is aware of her pregnancy! Piper begins to have suspicions about Phoebe's recent behaviour, Emma tries to get together with Grant, and Brennan tries to fit into his new family, new home and new job!

United As Three Chapter 1 **'Paige's Princess Phase'** will be up soon!


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